Homecoming
by Alyson Metallium
Summary: An emergency sends Meryl home with the rest of the gang. To let you know, this'll eventually be VxM, WxM. Rated for swearing.
1. Black Cats and Registered Letters

homecoming1

Chapter 1: Black Cats and Registered Letters

Meryl sighed, leaning her cheek against her right hand, watching the three other occupants at the table they shared in a corner of the saloon. Vash was turning an interesting shade of blue as Wolfwood pounded on his back in an effort to dislodge whatever had gotten stuck in his throat during a bout of laughter. Milly had gotten up to let the bartender know that they wanted more drinks at their table, and Meryl was fast coming to the conclusion that Wolfwood was NOT going to be able to remove the plug in Vash's windpipe by pounding on his back. She was just getting to her feet when a particularly hard blow to Vash's back caused his midsection to collide with the edge of the table. The trapped air in Vash's lungs was forced through his windpipe, sending the lodged bit of food shooting out of his mouth like a champagne cork. Meryl, quickly jerking her napkin off the table, held it up in front of her like a shield; killing two birds with one stone as she not only avoided getting hit with the tiny missile, but prevented the possibility of it hitting someone else and starting a bar- room brawl by the misunderstanding person possibly on the receiving end of Vash's unexpected gift.   
"ARE YOU TRYING TO KILL ME OR SOMETHING?!" Vash half-gasped, half- roared at Wolfwood, who was doubled over in laughter now that Vash's face was returning to its normal shade.   
Wolfwood was laughing too hard to respond, and Meryl shook her head in exasperation as she crumpled up her napkin, setting it back down on the table. Really, these two were hopeless. Meryl sat down with a half irritated look, but didn't say anything as Wolfwood, having finally stopped laughing long enough to catch his breath, complimented her on her catching ability.   
Meryl rolled her eyes. "Someone had to keep a fight from starting," she grumbled at him. "Honestly, half the time I wonder if you two have a serious bone in your bodies."   
"Of course I have a serious bone in my body!" Wolfwood protested, and was about to demonstrate by once again reiterating that he was a priest, when he noticed that Vash was taking advantage of his distraction and was trying to lift one of the two salmon sandwiches he had ordered off his plate. "Just what do you think you're doing, Tongari?!" Wolfwood demanded, and another loud voiced argument proceeded to take place. Meryl rolled her eyes again, and began to scan the saloon, wondering where Milly had wandered off to.   
She had just spotted the tall brunette coming back with three drinks (Meryl had opted for water instead of . . . well, whatever pathetic excuse for liquor this saloon served) when there was a momentary lull in the noise that always hung over saloons like a bad hangover as the front doors swung open, and a rather official-looking man strode in. Standing at the threshold, he ran his eyes over the gathering of men and women, appearing to be searching for someone in particular. His search came to an end as his eyes landed on the table   
Meryl was occupying. He glanced at a slip of yellow paper that he held in his hands, and then made his way towards them. As he neared, the argument between Wolfwood and Vash died down as they pondered whether or not this person posed a threat to them, and after deciding that he didn't, picked up where they left off.   
"Miss Meryl Stryfe?" the man asked politely as he reached their table.   
Meryl glanced up in surprise. "Yes, I'm Meryl Stryfe," she replied.   
"I have a registered letter for you. If you would please sign here," he said, whipping a clipboard from who-knows-where, then returning it to places unknown once Meryl had signed her name. "All right, here you are. Thank you and have a nice day."   
With that, the man gave a slight bow, and walked back out of the saloon. Meryl blinked, then turned her attention to the yellow envelope she now held in her hand. Milly reached their table and sat the drinks down in front of their respective owners as Meryl opened the envelope and began to read the contents of the letter.   
"Ahhh, thanks!" Wolfwood winked at her as she sat his drink down in front of him. Milly grinned back at him, and sat down in her chair after depositing Vash's drink in front of him.   
"KAMPAI!" Vash cried out as he reached for his drink, only to have it yanked out of his hand by Meryl.   
"HEY!" he protested, then stopped and stared in amazement, as did everyone else in the saloon, as Meryl upended Vash's full glass and downed its contents in a single gulp, wiped her mouth with the back of   
her sleeve, and slammed the glass back down on the table to a round of cheers from the other spectators. Before anyone could say anything to her, she rose to her feet and walked rapidly out of the saloon, sending the doors swinging wide on their hinges, leaving three very puzzled traveling companions behind.   
"Sempai?" Milly asked the empty air, her innocent blue eyes worried.   
"Whoa, what's gotten into her all of a sudden?" Vash asked no one in particular as he gazed forlornly at his empty glass.   
"Dunno, but it probably has something to do with this," Wolfwood replied while waving the opened letter in his hand. "She left it on the table! I didn't take it from her!" he said in response to Vash's criticizing glare. Then they both turned and stared as Milly reached over and yanked the letter from Wolfwood's hands, ran her eyes quickly over it and then jumped to her feet and left the saloon, hot on Meryl's trail.   
Vash and Wolfwood turned and stared at each other for a moment, then down at the piece of paper that had come to rest on the tabletop. Wolfwood reached out, picked up the seemingly innocent-looking paper,   
and began to read aloud while Vash listened. 

"Dear Meryl-oneechan,   
Must come home. Father is very ill. Don't have enough money to say anything more.   
Your sister,   
Lucy" 

Vash and Wolfwood stared at each other for another heartbeat, jumped to their feet and took off out of the saloon, leaving behind enough money on the table to cover their expenses. As they barreled out of the swinging front doors, Vash's foot hit something small and soft that went "HISSSS!" promptly tripping him and sending him sprawling on his face. Wolfwood paused to glance back at him, and shifted Cross Punisher on his shoulder a bit to make it more comfortable.   
"Geez, Tongari, didn't you see the cat?" he asked.   
"What cat?" Vash mumbled, but as he was currently worshipping the sand, it sounded more like, "Fffhaat caaa?"   
Before Wolfwood could reply, Milly came into view as she moved down the road in the direction of the hotel the group was currently staying at. She changed directions when she saw Vash and Wolfwood standing outside of the saloon, and came towards them, worry clearly evident in her face.   
"What's up?" Wolfwood asked.   
"Sempai wants me to start packing our things. We'll be heading out on the first Sand Steamer for Septembre City, and from there we're going to her home town. She's trying to find a way to get in touch with our chief to let him know what's going on," Milly replied. "Oh, and she also said that Bernadelli will probably send two other agents to take over our job until we can get back, though I doubt anyone will take it."   
"Oh? Why's that?" Vash asked, giving Milly a blank look. Wolfwood closed his eyes, sighed, then promptly whapped the blond upside the head.   
"Are you DAFT Tongari?! You're the man with $$60 billion on his head, the first Human Act of God, the Humanoid Typhoon, He Who Can't Walk Anywhere Without Leaving A Pile Of Rubble Behind Him. . .," Wolfwood was interrupted by Milly saying, "I've never heard him referred to as that!" and Vash's, "ALL RIGHT I GET THE POINT!"   
Wolfwood grinned at his grumbling friend, then turned his attention back to Milly. "Out of curiosity, just how did you two wind up with the job of keeping an eye on him? Wouldn't your boss have thought it too dangerous a job for such lovely young ladies?"   
Vash rolled his eyes at Wolfwood's obvious flirtatious move on Milly, but stopped grumbling and started listening because he had been wondering the same thing for a while now, and was interested to hear what Milly had to say.   
"Oh, sempai and I always get handed jobs like this," Milly said in her usual frank manner. "It's not just because sempai is really good at what she does, though she is one of the best in the agency, but she has this ability to understand people after she's spent some time with them. Sure, she denied that Vash-san was actually Vash-san at first, but that was because the only knowledge we had of him was based on rumor, and you have to admit, those weren't very flattering rumors. We had no idea what we were looking for when we got the assignment."   
"Rough assignment then?" Wolfwood asked, cutting his eyes in Vash's direction.   
"Oh no! It's been a lot of fun!" Milly said with a grin, then   
remembered that she was supposed to be packing her and Meryl's traveling bags. She made her excuses to the men and headed back in the direction of their hotel.   
Vash waited until Milly was out of earshot, before turning on Wolfwood and saying, "WHAT DO YOU MEAN, ROUGH ASSIGNMENT?!"   
"Do I need to go through your list of nicknames again, Tongari?" Wolfwood asked as he pulled out one of his prevalent crumpled cigarettes.   
Vash sighed, "No, no you don't need to do that. Once was enough, thank you very much." Then his face suddenly took on a thoughtful look. "Wait, she said that no one else would probably take over their assignment. YES! FREEDOM! I can do whatever I want! I can get drunk and not worry about Meryl yelling at me!"   
"TONGARI!" Wolfwood yelled, cutting Vash off as he began to prance around in the street. "Are you telling me that you have no intention of accompanying them on their journey? What kind of bodyguard do you call yourself? Leaving those poor, defenseless women to take a dangerous journey all alone across the desert."   
"They're about as defenseless as an armored car," Vash muttered under his breath, but smiled at Wolfwood soothingly. "Don't worry, I had no intention of letting them go off on their own."   
"Good, because I didn't want to leave her now, anyway," Wolfwood said without thinking. Vash latched onto that little slip like a drowning man to a raft.   
"Her..? We wouldn't happen to be talking about the Big Girl, now would we? Hmmm?" Vash grinned.   
"W-what are you talking about, Tongari?! I was simply stating that I didn't want to leave the women alone to make such a dangerous journey!" Wolfwood blustered.   
Vash laughed and began to dance in a little circle around Wolfwood. "Admit it! You have a thing for the Thompson girl!"   
"I HAVE NO IDEA WHAT YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT, YOU IDIOT!" Wolfwood yelled, and began walking in the opposite direction, but Vash was not about to be put off so easily. He followed on Wolfwood's heels, saying, "Admit it! Admit it!" until Wolfwood began walking faster. And faster. And faster. Finally Wolfwood muttered, "Shit!" and took off running. Not to be outdone, Vash began to run, too, until once again he was right on Wolfwood's heels, yelling, "ADMIT IT!" over and over again as they tore down the main street.   
Meryl was walking back from the post office where she had finally managed to reach the chief via a private radio line, and she couldn't say that she was really surprised when no one else wanted to come out and take over their assignment for a few weeks. She sighed and rubbed the back of her head wearily. She didn't know what to do about Vash the Stampede. She couldn't very well order him to come with them, that really wouldn't be fair to him. On the other hand, this is their assignment and she would be in the right to order him to go with them. But . . . she couldn't quite squash the little voice in the back of her head that whispered, _You'd rather he came with you of his own free will…_   
Before she could even get a small growl out of her throat at that thought, two very familiar figures came tearing around a corner and nearly ran her over. Wolfwood managed to side step around her, but Vash wasn't so lucky. He hit the brakes, but not quick enough to keep him from bumping into Meryl hard enough to knock her off balance. She spun a bit, but Vash's reflexes were faster than gravity, and he caught her about the shoulders to steady her.   
"Sorry about that," Vash said sheepishly as he released her. Meryl blinked at him as her senses tried to right themselves from their sudden jolt out of place, and then her eyebrows furrowed a bit.   
"What were you two DOING running around the town like that?" she demanded.   
"Nothing!" Wolfwood said quickly before Vash could even open his mouth, and then he shot the blond a look of Death if he so much as even muttered the words "Thompson girl."   
"Well, Tongari, I'm going to head to the hotel to see if we're going to need any supplies for the trip. I'm sure that anything the Sand Steamer has is going to be expensive. Catch ya later!" With that, Wolfwood turned and hoofed it back the way he came, not giving Vash a chance to come with him.   
Meryl stared at the retreating Wolfwood and then turned her questioning gaze at Vash. "What did he mean, supplies?"   
"Oh, we're going to come with you guys. You might need help with your dad being sick and all," Vash said.   
"And just how did you know my father was sick?" Meryl asked suspiciously.   
"Wolfwood found the letter after you left," Vash answered honestly, then asked a bit worriedly, "You don't mind if we come along, do you?"   
Meryl took a deep breath, and let it out on a relieved sigh. "To be honest, no. Just don't get into trouble," she warned.   
Vash smiled at her, and she found herself returning his smile before suddenly getting flustered and turning her attention to the ground. "I need to go help Milly pack," she said, and moved away from him. Vash watched her go, concern briefly lighting his eyes as he watched Meryl's shoulders slump a bit before she rounded the corner. He knew that, in a way, she was like him in that she hid her emotions so that the people around her wouldn't worry. He decided to keep a closer eye on her, because he knew that holding in your emotions wasn't healthy. At least he cried when he was sad or needed to release some emotion, so he knew he wasn't a ticking time bomb. The only display of emotion he had seen Meryl release was when she was angry, and even that had an element of control about it. Vash couldn't help it, he was worried.   
Sighing, he turned his steps in the direction of the hotel, figuring that while Wolfwood was out shopping he'd grab a quick nap before having to pack. They had a long journey ahead of them. 

_To be continued......___

Notes: Tongari = Needle-noggin. Hope you guys liked. This is my first time posting on ff.net, so I'm kinda interested to see how the story goes over. Thanks, and take care!   



	2. Sandsteamer Surprises

homecoming2

Chapter 2:   
Sandsteamer Surprises

The desolate beauty of the desert sped by as the Sandsteamer glided over the sand, the distant mountains seemingly stained with blood in the ruddy glow as the twin suns slowly sank below the horizon, allowing the fried planet several hours to throw off the heat of the day, making way for the intense cold of the night.   
The strong wind that was generated by the steamer's passage ruffled Meryl's short dark hair and sent her cape swinging to the side behind her. She gazed out at the passing scenery, not really paying much attention to it. For once her thoughts weren't really centered on anything, and she allowed herself a small moment to just relax and not think about the mountain of worries that felt like they were slowly crushing her with every mile that passed beneath the wheels of the steamer. This was their second day of passage, and early tomorrow afternoon they would be pulling into Septembre City and Meryl would begin the final leg of her journey with her three companions.   
"I'm glad they came along," she thought to herself. Of course she had expected Milly to come, there was no way the tall brunette would have let Meryl go off on her own, but it still surprised her that Vash and Wolfwood had joined the party. She had expected Vash to be elated over the fact that he wouldn't be under surveillance for a while, and the only thing she could figure was that Wolfwood must have either bribed him or guilt-tripped him into coming along. She had her suspicions on why Wolfwood had come along, but she didn't want to voice any, simply because she could barely handle her own mountain of problems, much less have any more room to worry about Milly and Wolfwood.   
She stretched her arms above her head, taking a last deep breath in the twilight air before turning her steps back towards the rooms that they were staying in. She had just reached the door and was getting ready to walk in when someone yelled, "NO WAY! ONE MORE GAME!" causing her to pause and then grin to herself. She opened the cabin door and walked into one of the two first class cabins that she and her traveling companions were sharing. The steamer's captain was seated at a table across from Milly, and a chess board was spread out between them. Vash and Wolfwood were seated in a pair of easy chairs, trying to see who could out-drink whom in a contest of alcoholic constitutions. Meryl silently placed a bet with herself that Vash could out-drink Wolfwood, but would wind up stupidly throwing it all up before the night was over with. Milly looked up at her from the resetting of the chess board, and smiled.   
"Hello, Sempai! You've gotten back in time for the hundredth game!" she said cheerfully while the captain growled under his breath.   
Meryl raised a curious eyebrow. "Really..? What's the current score?"   
"Ninety-nine to zero," Wolfwood answered casually while throwing a wink at Meryl as Vash grabbed a third glass and poured a drink for her.   
Meryl had a hard time believing that she had allowed Wolfwood to talk her into letting Milly play the captain in a game of chess for their passage fare, but she had remembered Milly telling her about how she had saved Wolfwood's hide at a game of chess when they had joined up with a caravan at one point in their travels, and decided to sit back and see what happened. If she had known that Wolfwood had bet first class passage and that they would have had to pay if Milly had lost, she would have taken Cross Punisher and used it as a tombstone for a certain smart-ass priest. A tense twelve moves later and the four were ensconced in a pair of first class cabins that were right next to each other, and a steamer captain who just couldn't accept the fact that such an innocent-looking woman had trounced him in a single game. So he made it best out of three, then five, then nine, and on it went until they were now at their current game number. The captain would only leave to take care of duties in regards to the steamer, or when Meryl forcibly kicked him out so they could go to bed, but he always came back with a demand for another game. Milly always agreed, and cheerfully beat him every time.   
Meryl shook her head and walked over to take the drink that Vash was offering her, before settling down on the edge of her bed to watch the game. Like all the others, it was short-lived as Milly beat the Captain in only twenty moves. Meryl had a feeling that one reason Milly always won was because the Captain was too hasty in his decisions, not thinking them out before moving his man. Whatever the reason, Meryl was thankful that Milly was winning because it insured that they could keep their first class cabins on the Steamer. However, it was getting late and Meryl knew that if she didn't kick the captain out of their cabin, he would continue to challenge Milly all night long.   
"All right," she said as the captain began to beg for yet ANOTHER game. "It's time for you to go, captain. We have to pack for the Steamer's arrival."   
"THE ARRIVAL?! ^%^%^%$%#$#@!!!! I COMPLETELY FORGOT! I HAVE TO CLEAR THE STEAMER FOR PASSAGE INTO THE CITY!" The distraught captain didn't waste any more words as he leapt to his feet and narrowly avoided running over Meryl as he dashed out the door. The four companions blinked in astonishment as large drops of sweat rolled down the backs of their heads, then turned their attention to each other.   
"Well? Didn't I tell you that letting big girl here play chess for our rooms was a good idea?" Wolfwood gloated, not for the first time.   
"Yes yes, you did. Now get out so we can get some sleep," Meryl said, sounding more cranky than she wanted to. Vash and Wolfwood merely grinned at her and exited the room, Wolfwood calling out that should the girls need them they would be next door. Meryl rolled her eyes and rummaged around in her luggage, looking for the over sized T-shirt that she slept in, while Milly pulled on her pajama top and bottoms.   
"Sempai?" Milly asked as they prepared to brush their teeth. Having a private bathroom wasn't a luxury either were used to, but they were well-prepared to take full advantage of their good fortune.   
"Yes Milly?" Meryl asked.   
"This has been a much nicer Steamer ride than the first two, don't you think?"   
"Yes, it has, Milly," Meryl said with a smile. "For one thing, we're not chasing down rumors of Vash-san, or trying to find out where he is."   
"And the Steamer isn't filled with bandits," Milly chirped.   
The words had barely left her mouth when the door to their cabin was kicked in and a gruff-sounding voice shouted, "HANDS UP!" The two women froze, then slowly turned, with their hands held in front of them to look down the barrel of what looked to be a cross between a sawed-off shotgun and an Uzi. The owner, a half-masked man that stood just over the threshold of their room, adopted a nonchalant pose as he sized the two women up.   
"Milly," Meryl half growled, half whispered, "The next time we're on a Sand Steamer, do not mention the word 'bandit', got that?"   
"Hai," Milly replied sheepishly, quietly gauging the distance between she and her stungun.   
"Now isn't this nice?" the man said, leering at Meryl's exposed legs. "You two be nice and give me all your cash and maybe I won't hurt you any."   
Meryl twitched a bit, feeling her temper start to rise at   
the man's unspoken suggestion. It began to rise even more as the man began to approach the two of them, and proceeded to set fire to the simmering powder keg of emotion that she had kept in check for the past three days. Her eyes began to narrow as all the fear, anger, frustration, sorrow, and regret that she had kept hidden from the others began to swell and strain against her wall of self-control. The man continued to walk towards them, and with each step the emotions Meryl was holding in check threatened to break free.   
Milly was watching Meryl out of the corner of her eye, and was   
beginning to wonder if it was a good thing that Meryl was starting to vibrate slightly. Apparantly the bandit didn't pick up on the warning signs because he coninued to move towards the girls and raised a hand to Meryl.   
The moment his finger tips touched Meryl's cheek, the tight rein she'd had on her emotions snapped.   
"DON'T YOU TOUCH ME, YOU JERK!" she screeched, bringing her knee up in a crushing blow to the most vulnerable and painful spot on a man's body. As he reflexively hunched over, Meryl grabbed the sawed off monstrosity of a gun by the barrel, and used it in a way that guns weren't meant to be used. She hauled back and swung the butt of the gun against the side of the man's face, causing his head, and then body, to jerk around in an awkward half-circle before crumpling to the ground.   
Milly stared, her blue eyes wide with shock. Meryl stood there holding her new-found club, her breaths coming deep and even as she fought to regain control of her emotions. The attempt, though, was abandoned as the bandit, his bandana now hanging pathetically around his neck, began to scoot backwards away from her. He then got to his feet, turned, and bolted out of the door. Meryl's jaw locked as anger once again began to rule and she hefted her weapon over her head.   
"HOW DARE YOU BARGE INTO A LADIES' ROOM AND MAKE PASSES AT THEM WHILE WHO KNOWS WHAT KIND OF HIDEOUS THOUGHTS ARE RUNNING THROUGH YOUR HEAD! COME BACK HERE!!" she screamed as she ran after the fleeing bandit.   
"SEMPAI!" Milly yelled, ran over to her suitcase to grab her Stungun, and ran out of the room in Meryl's wake.   
Vash and Wolfwood had just gotten settled into their respective beds when the sound of the girls door being kicked in reached them. Their feet hit the floor to the sound of Meryl's enraged screech, and they reached their door just in time to hear a screaming man run by. They flung their door open in time to see Meryl, bare legs a blur of motion, streak past yelling at the top of her lungs with a gun held club-like over her head. She was followed a few seconds later by pajama-clad Milly toting her BASG (Big Ass Stun Gun), yelling for Meryl to at least slow down and wait for her.   
Two pairs of male eyes blinked for a second, turned to regard each other in stunned silence, and then ran after the women. Or rather, they would have if they both hadn't tried to barge through the door at the same time, effectively getting stuck in the doorway. What followed was a flurry of punches, shoving, kicking, and more swearing than a room full of drunk sailors before Vash managed to gain leverage, shoving Wolfwood back into the room before following after Milly. Wolfwood tossed a few more curse words at Vash's head as he followed after, pausing just long enough to grab Cross Punisher and Vash's gun from the nearby table.   
Wolfwood quickly caught up with Vash and tossed him his gun. He easily kept pace with the tall blond, but no matter how hard they tried they could not catch up with Milly or Meryl. The only way they knew which way to go was to follow the dying echos of Meryl's tirade and Milly's pleading with her to slow down.   
Despite all the running down corridors and up stairs, Meryl never slowed down in her pursuit of the bandit, and the bandit never slowed down in his flight from the screaming banshee on his heels. Adrenaline was pumping through his system and kept him from feeling any of the pain that should have immobilized him after a knee to the groin and a gun butt to the face. But the simple fact that he could hear a pair of bare feet closing in on him spurred him to greater speed as he sought that refuge that all scared s___less bandits seek.   
"BOOOOSSSSSS!!!!!" he shrieked as he reached the bridge of the Steamer.   
A large, burly, and overly bandit-looking man turned as one of his minions came screaming, literally, into the cockpit. He then proceeded to do a double take as a petite, dark-haired, attractive and half-dressed woman came flying into the cockpit right behind his minion, a gun held over her head in a way that suggested the first object she came into contact with would receive a large dent in it. Unfortunately for his underling, it was his head that got in the way of the downward arc of Meryl's club as he stopped to get his boss's attention. The man slowly folded to the ground with a soft grunt, and the boss found himself facing a very pissed-off young woman.   
"Is there anything I can help you with?" he asked, figuring that playing the gentleman might throw the woman off balance enough for him to remove the gun from her hands.   
Meryl's eyes narrowed a bit. "You're the leader?" she hissed. The burly man nodded, and then blinked in surprise as Meryl proceeded to chew him out. "How DARE you attack this steamer, put innocent passengers' lives at stake, and put ME at risk of NOT GETTING HOME WHERE I'M NEEDED!"   
As she yelled the last few words at the top of her voice, she lunged at the man, club raised high, and felt a jolt run through her arms and down her legs as the man reached up and caught the butt of the gun in his hand. He gave a jerk, and ripped the barrel of the gun from her hands. Meryl gasped and stumbled forward a bit, but before the man could grab her, he was thrown backwards by a powerful force that sent the air rushing out of his lungs. Meryl turned to find Milly, BASG in hand, standing behind her in the doorway.   
"Are you all right, sempai?" Milly asked, not taking her eyes off of the bandit leader as he got to his feet.   
"I, uh, yes. Thank you, Milly," Meryl said, recovering both from her shock and her emotional outburst. She suddenly felt very tired, but she did feel a little less likely to have an emotional breakdown now that some of the tension bottled inside her had been dispersed.   
Sagging a little in the shoulders, Meryl wondered what to do now that the bandit leader had been subdued (he sure wasn't going to go against a tall brunette holding a HUGE gun on him). A commotion behind Milly caught her attention, and she looked out into the hallway to see a very out of breath Vash, followed by an equally out of breath Wolfwood, making their way towards them dragging four very out of it bandits behind them by the collars of their shirts.   
"What on earth . . . ?" Meryl asked, her eyes widening in surprise.   
Vash and Wolfwood reached the cockpit, dumped the unconscious bandits beside the one that Meryl had conked earlier, and then Vash stumbled back to sit on the floor with his back to the wall while Wolfwood uncovered Cross Punisher and added his own BAG (Big Ass Gun) to Milly's stungun. If the leader had even been entertaining a remote possibility of going against Milly, those thoughts were flushed out to the sewer as he stared down the barrel of Cross Punisher.   
"This idiot," Wolfwood said, pointing to Vash who made a face back at him, "Can't be taken anywhere without running into some form of trouble."   
"And you're telling us something new?" Meryl asked, confused.   
"We ran into the rest of the bandits on the way here. They had   
heard their comrad's screams and were coming to see what was up. We just helped them arrive at their destination in a much more peaceful frame of mind," Vash said.   
The priest snorted derisively. "Helped them nothing! And are you going to get that wound treated, Tongari?" Wolfwood demanded crossly.   
"Wound?" Meryl asked, and her eyes went to a spreading red spot on the right sleeve of Vash's shirt. She didn't pause to think, going to his side and asking him to remove his shirt so she could get a better look.   
"Meryl, it's all right, it's nothing serious," Vash protested.   
"Don't argue with me," Meryl said, then turned to the crew of the steamer, who had all stood and stared as the previous drama had been acted out. "Don't just stand there, get me some medicine and bandages!" Meryl snapped, sending two of the men into a frenzy of movement as they scurried to comply.   
"How did this happen?" Meryl asked as she knelt down next to Vash's side as he struggled between trying to pull his shirt off and not moving his arm too much.   
"We weren't expecting them when we came around a corner," Wolfwood said. "He managed to knock three of them out, but the fourth one got a shot off before I could get to him. Incidentally, you're very fast when you're angry."   
"Not to mention scary. ITAIII!" Vash yelped as Meryl helped him remove the rest of his shirt with a hard yank.   
"Did that hurt?" she asked sweetly, before turning her attention to the source of the blood on his sleeve. The bullet had caught him high on hisarm, but instead of creasing over the surface like she had expected, it had actually entered the flesh and torn a pathway through before exiting out on the other side. The result was that Vash had two very bloody holes in his arm. "Trust you to not have a simple wound, oh no, Vash the Stampede-san gets nothing but the BEST. Where the HELL are those crew members with the medical supplies?"   
"D-did she just say Vash the Stampede?" the bandit leader squeaked.   
"Hai!" Milly said cheerfully, a smile on her face.   
One of Wolfwood's eyebrows shot up to his hair line as the large, burly man folded in silently upon himself and fainted.   
"Whatta wimp," he muttered as he picked up the cloth that he swathed Cross Punisher in and began to rewrap it. Meryl looked at the cloth and opened her mouth, but before she could get a word out Wolfwood said, "No. Do you have any idea how much this cloth costs, small girl? Especially since I have to get it oversized to fit Cross Punisher."   
"Some friend you are," Meryl muttered, but before she could say   
anything else, the crew members returned carrying a bottle of whiskey, some scissors and some rope.   
"Sorry, this is the best we could do," one of the said.   
"Hey, thanks! I could use a drink!" Vash said, and snagged the bottle out of the other guys hands, uncorked it, and began to chug.   
Meryl took the scissors from the other man, and while the crew, with the help of Milly and Wolfwood, bound the bandits, she pulled the bottle from Vash's hand when he paused for some air.   
"Oh, want some?" Vash asked with a grin. What he got in response was the sound of tearing cloth, and his eyes bugged out as Meryl, having cut into the cloth of her shirt a bit, ripped a rather large chunk of her shirt off and doused it with whiskey. She then eyed the bottle for a moment, then turned her eyes up to meet Vash's, giving him a serious look.   
"Vash-san, this is going to really hurt," she said, and before he could ask her what was going to hurt, she poured a good fourth of what was left in the bottle over his shoulder.   
Vash yelled at the top of his lungs as tears of pain sprung to his eyes, the liquid fire flowing into the raw open flesh the bullet had left behind. The fact that Meryl followed the whiskey with strong pressure from the whiskey soaked cloth didn't make matters any better, and his vision began to waver a bit from the pain.   
After what seemed like yet another hundred and thirty years of his life passed by, Meryl gently eased up on the pressure and checked the bleeding underneath.   
"Good," she said to herself, "it's slowing down."   
She didn't want to remove the cloth that she was holding against his wound for fear of causing the injury to start bleeding again, though the thought of Vash having to keep the bloody cloth against his wound didn't sit well with her. "It'll just be for tonight," she told herself, and looked up to see Vash's pain filled eyes watching her.   
"That hurt worse than getting shot," he said, his voice sounding strained.   
"I'm sorry," she said softly, but turned back to business before her own tears of empathy could start. "Do you think you could hold this cloth here for a second? I need to make a wrap that'll hold it in place until we get to Semptembre. Once there we'll take you to the doctors."   
"I don't need to go to the doctor," Vash said as he gingerly placed his hand where she indicated, and held the stiffening fabric to his arm. Meryl once again turned to her nightshirt, and ripped off another long swatch of the soft cotton. She replaced her hand where his was, and proceeded to wrap the long stip around the whiskied cloth, making certain that the pressure was enough to hold the bandage in place, but not cut off circulation. Once she was finished, she carefully knotted the ends together and sat back on the ground, being careful to keep her knees closed and beneath her as she eyed her handiwork.   
"How does that feel?" she asked.   
"Hurts like hell but I don't think it's going to go anywhere when I move," Vash answered, gingerly moving his arm a bit to test the tightness of the bandage.   
"Good," Meryl replied, then took a swig from the whiskey bottle to get her nerves to stop doing the samba, then passed it back to Vash.   
"Thanks, I need this," Vash replied, and went back to chugging on the bottle.   
"How're things here? All done?" Wolfwood asked, coming to stand by Meryl.   
"He should be fine until we can get him to the doctor," Meryl replied, carefully getting to her feet and turning to see the bandits trussed up and ready for delivery to the officials.   
"How can we thank you for your help?" the captain asked. Meryl noted that he had a bloody nose and figured he must have been in no shape to lend a hand.   
"Just don't mention that Vash the Stampede was on your ship to anyone, please. The last thing I need is for bounty hunters and the law to show up on my doorstep, especially if my father is ill," Meryl replied.   
"Consider it done. We won't tell anyone, and I doubt these idiots will remember it when they wake up from Dreamland. And I must tell you, Miss Thompson, you are the best chess player I've ever met," the captain said as he turned his attention back to his duty.   
Wolfwood leaned down and helped Vash get to his feet without jarring his arm too much. Milly bent down and picked up Vash's discarded shirt and looked at it.   
"This is going to need washing," she said as the four turned to leave the cockpit, Meryl trying to pull down what was left of the hem of her shirt.   
The two men were careful to keep their eyes averted from her slight form, though at times it was difficult. The long shirt that used to hang past Meryl's knees now only hung about mid-thigh, and even if she didn't know it, she did have a nice pair of shapely legs.   
They reached the cabins without further mishap or running into any crew members of other passengers, and Wolfwood opened the door and motioned for Vash to preceed him into the cabin.   
"Vash-san," Meryl said softly, catching his attention.   
"Hai?"   
"If either you or Wolfwood has any aspirin or something to ease the pain, I suggest you take some. It'll also help with any fever that you might come down with," she said. "That'll at least get you through the night until we can get you to a doctor."   
"I'm not going to the doctor," Vash replied stubbornly. "You did as good a job as any of the doctors I've ever gone to."   
Meryl could feel herself start to blush at the small compliment, when Vash completely ruined it.   
"Of course, your treatment hurt a LOT worse than anything any of the official quacks have done."   
Meryl's teeth clenched, but she managed a narrow smile for the two men before saying, "Good night," and walking into the cabin she and Milly shared, slamming the door behind her with a bang.   
"She's had a rough night," Milly said, stating the obvious as usual, before following her partner into the cabin, shutting the door behind her much more softly than Meryl had.   
"Has anyone ever told you that you have a unique way with women?" Wolfwood asked amusedly as he and Vash set down their guns and once again prepared for bed. "It's no wonder the small girl stays angry with you all the time. Not only do you constantly get into the worst-case scenarios, but you never know when to stop talking."   
"Do shut up," Vash grumbled as he downed four aspirin with a swig of the whisky, and laid back down on his bed. He carefully pulled the covers up over his body, being careful to not move his arm too much. He lay still on his back, staring at the ceiling and wishing that the pain in his arm would go away so he could sleep. It was while he was staring at the ceiling that he came to the realization that, despite having his shirt off and baring his horribly scarred body, no one had said anything, nor were there any of the usual intakes of breath at the sight. He didn't know that while he had been trying to pull his shirt over his head, Meryl had shot everyone a look in the cockpit that clearly said, "Say anything about his scars and you won't wake up in the morning." 

_To be continued.....___

Notes: Just to let you know, I'm a slow working. *sigh* 


	3. Warm Welcomes

A special thanks goes out to my friend and Beta Reader, Zanne-chan. Thank you sooooo much! *huggles* 

Chapter 3:   
Warm Welcomes 

The rented convertible carefully made its way through the streets of Septembre City. Wolfwood was behind the wheel, looking calm and unruffled as he navigated his way around pedestrians, other cars and thomases alike. Beside him, Milly was munching contentedly on one of several puddings that Wolfwood had bought for her while they waited for Vash and Meryl to return from the doctor's office. 

After everyone had disembarked from the sand steamer, Meryl had begun asking for directions to the nearest doctor's office. However, getting the lanky gunman to go to the office had quickly been turned into an event as Vash had protested loudly the fact that he healed fast and didn't need to go to the doctor, and Meryl had informed him, in a voice loud enough to match his, that he at least needed to go and have his wound looked at. By the time the argument had reached the stage where the two combatants were standing toe-to-toe and glaring at each other, half of the city had turned out to watch and be entertained. Milly had finally stepped between the two spazzes and had settled the dispute in her own unique way. 

"Vash-san," she had said, giving him a straightforward look with her wide blue eyes, "go to the doctor. Senpai has enough to worry about without having to worry about you, as well." 

Meryl had flushed hotly at Milly's words, muttered something about bringing the mountain to Mohamed, and began to stalk down the street. Vash had given Milly and Wolfwood a blank look before he turned and followed her, missing Milly's satisfied smile as he did so. 

"Think we should go with them?" Wolfwood had asked. 

"You can if you want," Milly replied sweetly, and turned to go in the other direction. "I'm going to have a pudding a la mode and some Ceylon tea." 

Wolfwood gazed after Milly's retreating figure until he remembered that Meryl had taken the insurance girl's money with her to the doctor's office. His decision having been made for him, he took off after the taller girl, figuring that he could also secure a rented car for the last leg of their journey. 

Several medical-related arguments and a pudding-and-tea later, the group made their way to the outskirts of the city, Vash sulking behind Wolfwood with his right arm in a sling, and Meryl gazing off at the buildings, lost in thought. 

_That idiot…_she thought to herself. 

Vash had continued to protest that he didn't need to go to the doctor with practically every step until Meryl, exasperation written in every line of her body, turned to glare at him. 

"See? I'm perfectly fine!" Vash exclaimed now that he had gotten her to look at him, and proceeded to move his arm around a little to demonstrate his claim. 

"Oh, really?" Meryl asked sweetly, before swiftly touching Vash's injured arm with her index finger. She had barely touched it, but his reaction was instantaneous. 

"ITAI!" he yelled as he grabbed his arm and doubled over a bit. 

"Point proven, ne? Now stop whining and come on," Meryl growled as she began stalking down the street once again, Vash's now silent but sulking form a little behind her. 

The doctor had been gracious and very polite considering Vash's scowling countenance and sulky replies to his questions. He had inspected the wound, complimented Meryl on her use of the whiskey, and applied some antiseptic and rewrapped the wound with a clean bandage. He then placed Vash's arm in a sling, instructing the gunman to not move his arm too much, else run the risk of reopening the wound. Vash had instantly started complaining, not liking the thought of keeping his gun arm in a sling for even a single day, but Meryl had said in a steely voice that brooked no arguments that Vash would follow the doctor's instructions to the letter. 

As they were leaving, the doctor assured them that Vash would only have to keep the sling on for a week, but that didn't help cheer the lanky gunman up as he imagined all sorts of bounty hunters, gung-ho guns, and law men coming after him. 

Meryl heaved a small sigh. She knew how Vash felt, and to be honest, she was a little leery as well of him having to keep his gun arm in a sling, but there wasn't much she could do other than keep her fingers crossed that the crew of the sand steamer would keep the fact that Vash the Stampede had been a passenger a secret. 

She glanced at Vash again, heaved yet another sigh, and said, "Will you stop sulking? You're acting like a child." 

Vash turned his eyes to her, their blue-green depths sparkling in amusement as he grinned and stuck his tongue out at her. Meryl offered him an incredulous stare, then rolled her eyes and looked away.   
"Case in point," she muttered under her breath. 

"Hey, small girl!" Wolfwood called from up front, and Meryl leaned forward so that she could hear him better. 

"What is it, Wolfwood-san?" she asked. 

"We're coming to the end of the city limits. Where do I go now?" 

"Once you're outside the city walls, head north. You'll come to a small town, and by that time you'll be able to see our destination," Meryl answered. 

"So your home is near a town?" Vash asked, curious. 

"It wasn't always like that. We used to have to go into Septembre for supplies and the like, but gradually small, family owned businesses began to move out and set up shop near us. More businesses followed, and eventually Key Town grew up around them. My family lives five iles outside of Key Town, but trust me when I say you'll be able to see it," Meryl said. 

"Does your entire family live in one house?" Vash asked, curious. 

"No, not unless there were some major changes that I'm not aware of. As far as I know, it's just my father and my younger sister Lucy and her husband that's living in the main house. I have two younger brothers that moved out just before I left," Meryl said, then smiled. "I should warn you though, our family seems to be larger than it is because of my father's brothers and sisters living close by. We'll be over run by my younger cousins before the day is out." 

"Oh good! It'll be good to see how much the kids have grown!" Milly said happily. 

"You've met her family before?" Wolfwood asked. 

"Yes, a few years ago after our first assignment. They were a lot of fun!" Milly replied. 

"They really enjoyed trying to lift your Stun Gun," Meryl said smiling. 

"Did anyone succeed?" Wolfwood asked. 

"One of the older kids nearly did," Milly giggled. 

While Milly and Meryl went into details about some of the kids they would be meeting, Vash allowed himself to retreat into a comfortable silence. He had been feeling the familiar presence of a Plant Angel, but this particular Angel had a slightly different feel to her compared to the other Angels he'd encountered. The difference was vague and would have been unnoticeable if Vash hadn't been listening to the Plant Angels his entire life. It wasn't a threatening difference, rather it was the opposite, a comforting presence that seemed to promise peace to those that came within touching distance if they could. 

Wolfwood's sudden, shocked cry of "THAT'S WHERE YOU LIVE?!" followed by a sudden stomp on the brakes broke Vash from his thoughts as his body pitched forward, only to be stopped from hitting the seat in front of him by his seat belt, jarring his injured arm in the interim. 

"DAMNIT WOLFWOOD!!!" Vash yelled, reaching over Meryl to bash Wolfwood on the head. "WARN ME NEXT TIME YOU . . . do . . . that .. . " Vash's eyes widened as they took in the scene before them. On the horizon shimmered a large green shape that could only be… "A Geo Plant..." Vash breathed, stunned. 

"Yeah. From what my father has told me, our family has taken care of that particular Geo Plant ever since we first landed on this planet. Dad's the head engineer, with the rest of the family acting as the rest of the staff. When I was younger, and I'm sure they still do it this way, we would rotate shifts every week so that everyone would get a chance to rest," Meryl replied. 

"Did you ever have any trouble?" Wolfwood asked as the car resumed its path towards the house. 

"Yeah, we had our share of bandits and millionaires coming around trying to steal the Plant out from under us, but so far we've been successful in keeping them from taking even a single tree," Meryl said, pride evident in her voice. "To help support the cost of maintaining the Plant, we raise prize thomases that can carry loads much heavier than your average thomas as well as a few racing thomases as well. Wolfwood-san, if you'll head towards the first ranch compound we'll be able to get out and unload the car. We don't live directly on the Geo Plant, we prefer to leave the land well enough alone. You should see the main house soon." 

Following Meryl's directions, it wasn't long before Wolfwood was pulling up in front of a large ranch house with wide front windows thrown open to let in any small breeze that might drift in off the surrounding desert area. 

Out of the corner of his eye, Vash caught Meryl leaning forward and peering anxiously around her, gripping her hands together tightly in her lap. He suddenly found himself wanting to reach out and lightly take one of her small hands into one of his own and to offer what form of comfort that he could. Instead, Vash concerned himself with climbing out of the car, trying hard not to move his injured arm to much. Meryl followed suit once Wolfwood released the catch on his seat, and the gang gathered around the trunk of the car to start hauling out bags. 

Meryl had just pulled out her little suitcase when the double doors of the house were flung open and a young woman with long black hair rushed out onto the front yard. Meryl barely had time to straighten before the young woman was upon them, flinging herself into Meryl's arms, nearly knocking her over. 

"MERYL-ONEEEEEEECHAAAAAAAAAAAN!" the woman yelled, squeezing Meryl so tightly Vash swore that he heard a few of her ribs creak. 

"L-Lucy . . . can't breathe . . . ," Meryl managed to gasp out. Lucy released Meryl quickly and stepped back, tears gathering in her slate-gray eyes as she gazed at the elder sister she hadn't seen in so long.   
Vash and Wolfwood gazed curiously at the woman that was Meryl's younger sister while Milly hugged and greeted the misty eyed woman. They didn't have a hard time imagining the woman Meryl's sister despite the obvious difference in height and eye color. Lucy O'Conner stood a good half-foot taller than Meryl, and instead of eyes the color of a crushed violet, her eyes were a slate gray-blue that looked like they could change color with her mood. Her face was a bit more angular than Meryl's, and she wore her long, black hair back in a casual ponytail off the nape of her neck. In some aspects she might have been considered somewhat plain, but her intensity and natural exuberance more than made for a striking impression. 

"I'm so happy that you're home! You've been missed!" Lucy cried, grabbing Meryl up in another bear hug, albeit one that didn't cause her ribs to groan from the strain. 

"I'm glad to see you too, Lucy," Meryl said fondly, then pulled away and asked seriously, "How's Dad? Can you tell me what's happened?" 

Lucy opened her mouth as if to reply, only to shut it again, shaking her head. "Now isn't the time to go over it all. Let's get you in and settled and then we'll meet in the living room to discuss what's been going on." 

"Lucy, have you met Vash and Boukushi-san yet?" Milly asked as she and Wolfwood finished unloading the car. 

"No, I haven't. Pleasure to meet you," Lucy said, and shook each man's hand in turn. She began to say something else, but was interrupted by a small roar that began to grow louder and louder until suddenly the group was standing knee-deep in kids ranging in ages from nine to early teens. From the way the dust was settling, Meryl deduced that the group had been with the thomas herd and had come running as fast as they could once they realized she and the others were there. The small group was bombarded on all sides by questions and comments, while Meryl was kept busy hugging all the cousins, nieces and nephews that she hadn't seen in several years. 

One small voice caught everyone's attention as it asked, "Is that really Vash the Stampede?" 

All eyes turned in the direction of the voice's owner, a small angelic looking girl-child with curly blond hair and big blue eyes that were solemnly gazing up at Vash. Vash knelt down until he was eye level with the child and replied, "Yes, I am." 

"But-but you're so . . . so . . . so . . . ," the child paused, searching for the correct words while everyone else watched with wide eyes. 

"Handsome?" Vash supplied helpfully, striking a small pose. 

"Wimpy-looking," the girl corrected, causing Vash to hit the ground in surprise while Wolfwood threw his head back and roared with laughter. 

"Out of the mouths of babes, eh Tongari?" Wolfwood asked, while Meryl snorted softly and proceeded to go through introductions again. 

Once all the general pleasantries were out of the way, and the kids were all assured that yes, the legendary gunman was staying at their house and no he wasn't going to let any of them shoot his gun, the group picked up their luggage and followed Lucy into the house. 

"We have a few of our older cousins staying here, so I'm afraid that we're a little limited for space. I know you won't mind having your old room, Meryl, but I'm not sure where to put Milly. Wolfwood-san and Vash-san can have the room directly across from yours," Lucy said, turning to the four road-weary travelers. 

"Do we still have that spare cot that Dad always put up when Uncle Tony came to visit?" Meryl asked. 

"Sure do. It's in the storage building," Lucy replied. 

"You can wheel that into my room. Is that all right with you, Milly?" 

"That's fine with me, Sempai!" 

"Ok. Lucy, while you get the cot I'll show everyone to their rooms. I'll see you in a bit." 

With that, Meryl turned and led the way down one hallway and up a small flight of stairs. She stopped at a pair of doors directly across from one another, and opened up one. The room she entered was tastefully done in several different shades of blue. A large queen sized bed dominated the main floor space, while a roll top desk took up the far wall. Bookshelves lined the remaining wall space, and Vash could see a door that most likely lead into a closet off to the side. These were the only impressions he was allowed, though, as Meryl informed him that his and Wolfwood's room was right across the hall and that she and Milly would like to take time to settle in and maybe wash some of the travel dust off. 

Wolfwood clapped a hand on Vash's shoulder, then turned and opened to the door leading to their room. It was a little larger than Meryl's had been, containing two twin beds and two dressers, as well as two desks and a pair of closets. The color scheme was similar to the one in Meryl's room, only instead of differing shades of blue this room was done in differing shades of green. 

"I wonder if she has any twin siblings," Wolfwood mused as he pulled out several more black suits from his bag and hung them up in the closet. 

"Because of how everything is doubled in this room?" Vash asked as he put some worn jeans and cotton shirts into one of the dressers. 

"Yeah. So what do you think, Tongari? Seems like we're going to be staying a while. I never thought I'd ever get to stay at a Geo Plant, though. Do you think the small girl will let us wander around freely?" 

"How should I know?" Vash grumped, and would have grumped some more if a soft knock hadn't interrupted him. 

"Come in," he called, and the door opened to reveal a slightly refreshed looking Meryl. 

"Lucy just brought up Milly's cot and asked that we meet her in the living room as soon as we're settled," Meryl said in response to Vash's questioning look. 

"Meaning we should go down now," Vash supplied, and was rewarded with a small smile from Meryl. 

"Right, so if you guys are at a stopping point . . ." 

"Sure, we can go down now, right Tongari?" Wolfwood said, grabbing Vash by the arm and dragging him out into the hallway. Milly was already there and smiled happily at the two. Wolfwood released Vash's arm and went to her side, asking if she thought she would be comfortable and wondering if they had brought enough pudding. 

Vash rolled his eyes as they began to make their way back to the area where they had come in. He found himself wondering just why Meryl hadn't gone down to question her sister alone. Surely something as personal as a family matter would have been better off discussed in private. He glanced at the profile of the petite woman that walked at his side, and blinked at what he saw. 

Meryl's eyes were bleak with worry and he could literally see the tension mounting in her face muscles by the way the skin was being drawn taught over her features. He could feel it…the emotions she fought to restrain as she undoubtedly thought about the events to come. 

It was then that Vash realized something startling. For all her independent nature, Meryl desperately needed someone to lean on but was refusing to acknowledge that fact consciously to herself. So instead she was chalking up waiting for everyone before descending as good manners, not as a need to have her friends around her as she received the news regarding her father. What the gunman found even more startling was the fact that he found himself wanting to be the person that Meryl leaned on during this time of change and stress. 

Vash knew better than anyone just what a comfort a steady presence could be when things seemed overwhelming to him. And, given his…unusual…reputation, that had the potential to happen pretty often and it surprised him, realizing that over the past several months (or was it years?) Meryl had become that steadying presence in his life. She had been there for him countless times when the going had gotten rough, occasionally griping about how trouble always seemed to follow him like a shadow, but never really complaining. Hell, she had even shot a couple of the bounty hunters in order to save his sorry hide when something had thrown him off guard. 

Vash had never really thought about how steadying just knowing that she was there for him had become, and he wasn't quite sure how he felt about this new revelation. 

But being Vash, he filed it off under the heading of "Things To Think About Another Day" as they reached the doors to the living room and Meryl preceded them into the room and took up one side of a comfortably overstuffed wing-backed chair. Milly took up residence on a tan-colored love seat, and Wolfwood being the opportunistic person that he was, quickly took up the other side of the love seat. Vash glanced around quickly, getting an impression of family photos lining every available surface in the large room, before taking the companion to Meryl's chair. 

Lucy then entered the living room with a tray of drinks that she sat down on the coffee table before she took an ottoman that sat slightly facing the other chairs. Vash and Wolfwood reached out and each snagged a glass of water while everyone waited for Lucy to speak. 

_To be continued . . ._

*** 

Glossary of terms: 

Tongari - Needle Noggin'   
Boukushi-san - Mr. Priest (I hate the way it sounds in English, so I'm leaving it as this)   
Oneechan - Older Sister 

Note about the terms, I do plan to continue to use the generally known terms such as Itai (ouch), the -san endings for names (I can't stand calling someone Mr this and that when I'm writing, it looks weird), as well as continue to have Lucy refer to Meryl as Oneechan. Just seems to fit the characters better. But I will not, however, ever use an entire sentance of Japanese words when my characters talk. To be honest, it drives me nuts. Sorry about the mini-rant. ^^;; 


	4. A Father's Trust

Chapter Four   
A Father's Trust

**A/N**: Hey guys! Here's some notes that I probably should have put at the beginning of the first chapter of this monster, but in all honesty I didn't think about them until now. 

For instance, I've been asked what the timeline for this fic is, and which world does it take place in, the anime or the manga. Well, to be honest, this story takes place in both worlds, and yet, at the same time, it takes place in neither world. I guess you could say this is a completly Alternate Universe fic, even though I'm doing all I can to remain true to the Trigun world and rules; not to mention characterization. The reason I say it takes place in both worlds, though, is because I'll be making references occasionally to things that have happened in both the manga and anime. For example, when Vash is musing about Meryl having shot a person for him (I actually think I put down bounty hunter) in one of the earlier chapters, that's a vague reference to tankoubun five of Trigun Maximum where Meryl shoots Legato and manages to wing his face (why couldn't that bullet have been an inch more to the left? Drat). 

There will also be references in future chapters way on down the road to the manga situations therein. I'll try to have a small note at the end of those chapters explaining where the reference comes from. If you still want a definant estimation of when this story takes place, I'd say roughly after tankoubun five of Trigun Maximum, and before episode 20 of the anime. 

Let's see, oh yeah, I'm going to address this issue before I get yelled at for it (I'm surprised I haven't been yelled at yet, wow!). I'm well aware of the fact that Trigun is supposed to be an English speaking world (according to Nightow, and I'm NOT going to argue). The reason I continue to use a smattering of Japanese terms like the honorific "-san" and Milly's "senpai" and "Bokoushi-san" is because while I write these characters, they are speaking in their Japanese voices, and it messes up the cadence of their voices when I try to write Mr., Ma'am, or Mr. Priest when that's not what I hear them saying in my head. I am, however, trying to keep the Japense terms and phrases to a bare minimum. I will try to cover the words that I use in a glossary at the end of each chapter. It drives me nuts when people put in whole sentances in Japanese in their fics and then don't translate them for us at the end. Like I'm supposed to know what they're saying. 

As always, I do not own Trigun and any of it's characters. I do own all the characters that aren't members of Nightow's world such as Meryl's family, ect. Oh, but I do own a Kuroneko-sama lapel pin and a Vash character lapel pin. >^_^ 

********* 

Meryl listened to the steady tick-tick-tick of the grandfather clock that stood in the main hallway off the living room as everyone waited silently for Lucy to speak. Lucy took several swallows of water from her glass before setting it carefully back on the tray, and looking up to meet Meryl's eyes. 

"Thank you for coming as fast as you could, Meryl-oneechan," Lucy said her eyes suddenly very bright. 

"Of course I would come!" Meryl said quickly, knowing by that look that Lucy was fighting off a sudden surge of tears. "I'm just glad the letter found me. Tell me, what's happened?" 

Lucy took a deep breath, and then let the air shudder out of her. She glanced at Meryl, then around the room, her eyes lighting on each one of the rest of the four in turn, before returning to Meryl. She opened her mouth, but no sound came out. It was as if she were struggling for the right words. 

"Lucy," Meryl said softly, "Just tell me what happened. Please." 

Lucy nodded. "Nobody knows what happened," she began, and Meryl gripped her hands tightly together on her lap. "A few months ago Dad began to feel tired all the time. He began to let Randy-niisan and Ron-niichan take on more and more of the Geo Plant responsibility, and contented himself with taking care of the Thomas herd and overseeing the breeding program. Gradually, though, even that became too much for him, and he began to keep to the house. It's only been the past week or so that he's taken to staying in his bed. It's almost like he's suddenly become a very old man all at once. The doctors are baffled, and nothing anyone does helps." 

Lucy paused, noticing that Meryl's hands had tightened until her knuckles had turned white. Vash had also noticed the small movement out of the corner of his eye, but he didn't take his attention from Lucy's face. He could tell that she was holding something back, something she didn't want to tell Meryl. 

"Go on," Vash said softly, causing everyone to glance at him. Lucy fidgeted for a second, then said, "That's not the worst of it." 

"What?" Meryl asked, startled. 

"Mack has the town believing that Dad's sudden illness is Val's fault," Lucy said in a rush. 

"WHAT?!" Meryl roared, leaping to her feet and startling Vash and Wolfwood so badly that they spilled half of their water in their laps. 

"Just what I needed," Wolfwood muttered, "A cold shower." 

"WHAT THE HELL DOES THAT SNOT-FACED SON OF A . . .." 

"MERYL!" Lucy cut her off, glancing at the rest of the group, who were all staring at Meryl, their jaws hanging level with their knees. Meryl growled something unintelligable, and sat down, her jaw clenching and unclenching in a show of anger that no one in the room, aside from, perhaps, Lucy, had ever seen before. 

"What," she snarled out, her teeth clenched, "Does Mr. Rich Boy Mack Johnson think he's going to accomplish by blaming Val for whatever is wrong with Dad?" 

"Um," Wolfwood began, only to be shot a dirty look by Meryl. 

"You know that Mack's father is dead, right?" Lucy asked. 

"Didn't he die last year?" Meryl asked. 

"Yes. Well, since becoming the head of the family, Mack's gotten much much worse than what he used to be. He thinks that spreading the rumor about Val being the cause of Dad's illness will cause the people of Key Town to leave. He'll snap up the land rights, and knowing the way he thinks, he'll probably figure that'll be enough to make us want to sell the Geo Plant. He knows how much we hated to have to drive into Septembre for all of our supplies. That's what I figure, at least." 

"No," Meryl murmured, almost to herself. "That just doesn't feel right. I have a feeling there's something else going on, and knowing Mack I'm sure it isn't good." 

"Are you sure you're not just saying that because the guy came onto you in high school?" Lucy asked, earning another dirty look from Meryl. 

Vash blinked when he heard that, and glanced sideways at Meryl. Before he could say, or really think anything, Wolfwood spoke up. "Who's Mack?" 

"He's the local rich boy," Meryl replied, her voice little more than a snarl. "His father owned and ran the bank in Key Town, which means Mack now owns a lot of the mortgages on the property around here. He has a nasty disposition, thinks everything is his for the taking . . . " 

"And has the hots for Meryl-oneechan!" Lucy finished with a teasing grin tossed at her sister. 

Meryl twitched. "He does not 'have the hots' for me, Lucy." 

"Oh yeah?" Lucy challenged, a teasing glint appearing in her eye. 

"Drop it, Lucy," Meryl said sternly. 

"Who's Val?" Vash asked, wanting to change the subject before a fight could begin between the two siblings. He also wanted to turn the topic away from Mack, as well. All this talk about a man having the hots for Meryl vaguely unsettled him, though he wasn't sure why. Nor did he know where the sense of relief had come from when Meryl had made it quite plain that she didn't care for Mack in any way, shape or form. 

"Val's an old friend," Meryl said, then turned once again to Lucy as something in Lucy's letter once again grabbed her attention. "Lucy, what did you mean you didn't have enough money to tell me anything more in your letter?" 

Lucy's face instantly switched from teasing to serious, and she glanced down at her hands. "Well, Dad has suddenly put a restriction on the house budget, and I don't know why. There's only enough money now to get enough food for the immediate family. I saved up what little was left over for a month to send that registered letter to you." 

Meryl slowly sank back down into her chair, staring at Lucy. "Dad restricted the house budget? He's never done that before! And he won't tell you why?" 

"No, I've asked and asked, but he says that I'm not to worry about the 'whys' just the 'how's', whatever that means." 

_I bet he's going to tell me the why's so that I'll be the one to worry about them_, Meryl thought, gazing down at her joined hands. Her father had always done similar things when Meryl and her siblings had been growing up. Being the only two girls in the family after their mother died, Meryl and Lucy had, once Lucy had been older than seven, divided up the various house responsibilities. Randy and Ron, their younger twin brothers, had been under Lucy's care until they were old enough to start training at the Plant, and Meryl had taken over the household financial tasks, along with the household chores. Lucy helped whenever she could, but her entire day was usually taken up with keeping the twins out of trouble, leaving Meryl to do the cooking, cleaning, and book balancing once she had proved to her father that she could take over that aspect, as well. 

She was pulled from her musings to hear Lucy calling her name. "What?" 

"I said," Lucy grinned at her, "That I would be happy to take everyone on a tour of the ranch while you go and talk with Dad. He told that he wanted to see you when you got here." 

"That sounds good," Meryl said, then added, "Make sure Vash-san stays on the other side of the Thomas fencing." 

"Why do you say that?" Vash asked, looking affronted. 

"Because I know you and Thomases don't mix," Meryl said flatly. "Remember what happened when you tried to ride that one that Milly and I lent you?" 

"Oh, uh, yeah," Vash replied, scratching the back of his head and looking sheepish. 

"What's this? Something you haven't told me, Tongari?" Wolfwood asked, earning a glare from Vash. 

"I can tell you about it on the tour, Boukushi-san!" Milly volunteered, standing up. 

"Um, I'd rather you didn't," Vash said, sounding VERY sheepish and a little worried. 

"But Vash-san, I'm sure Bokushi-san would love to hear about when we first met you!" Milly said with a smile. 

"Bokushi-san certainly would!" Wolfwood said, smirking at Vash and standing up as well. 

"Meryl-oneechan, now is probably the best time to go and see Dad," Lucy said as she gathered up the drink glasses. "He'll be waking up from his nap and wanting some coffee. You can take it in to him. Be a nice surprise for him." 

"Wait a minute, you mean he doesn't know I'm here?" Meryl asked, surprised. 

"Probably not. You arrived during his nap time, and nothing ever wakes him up once he gets to sleep." 

Meryl nodded, then glanced at VAsh out of the corner of her eye. "Make sure you keep an eye on him," she said with a jerk of her thumb. "He has a habit of attracting trouble." 

"HEY!" Vash protested loudly, while Wolfwood gave a snort of laughter. 

"That's twice you've been cut down in one day. It's a new record, I think," Wolfwood quipped. 

"Oh no, I've seen him get cut down at least ten times before," Milly said, then turned to Meryl. "Do you need me to stay, Senpai? I've already seen most of the ranch." 

"No, you go ahead, Milly," Meryl replied, taking the tray from Lucy's hands and heading towards the kitchen. "I have a feeling Vash-san and Wolfwood-san will want to be touring the Geo Plant and the Forest, and you always did like those places best." _Besides_, Meryl thought, _I can tell that you want to be with your Bokushi-san right now, and I must see my father alone_. 

"Hai!" Milly chirped, and followed Wolfwood out the door. Vash hung back a second, worriedly glancing at Meryl's retreating back before following after Milly. 

Meryl turned to look out one of the kitchen window's and watched as the group followed Lucy across the yard and out the front gate. Knowning Lucy, Meryl figured that she'd head for the Forest first, then show them the Thomas corrals before heading to the Geo Plant itself. She always did like to save the most impressive part for last. And it gave the engineers at the Plant a chance to adjust themselves to the knowledge that Vash the Stampede was heading in their direction. 

Sighing slightly, and wishing she were on the tour because it had been a long time since she had last seen home, she turned away from the window and walked over to the counters, browsing through the contents of the cabnets until she came across the coffee tin. While the coffee perked, she washed and put away the glasses Lucy had brought into the living room, then placed two coffee mugs, a spoon, a sugar holder, and a small cream jug on the tray. By this time the coffee had finished, and she placed the pot on the tray, then picked it up and moved out of the kitchen, past the living room, to the end of the hallway where a large oak door was shut. An oval table with some silk flowers arranged in a light blue vase was standing against the wall, and Meryl carefully placed the tray on it, before knocking gently at the closed door. 

"Come in," a low, gruff voice called, and Meryl smiled a bit, a feeling of truly coming home washing through her. 

She turned the door handle before picking up the tray again, then turned and walked slowly into a room that was suffused with light. Her father had opened every blind in his room in order to illuminate every corner. A large, clean-shaven man with a full head of white hair was sitting up with his back braced against the headboard of his bed, his large, slate-gray eyes staring at Meryl with a mixture of pleased surprise and love. 

"Meryl!" he exclaimed, and held his arms out in welcome. Meryl carefully sat the tray down on one of the bedside tables, then walked over and was engulfed by her father's welcoming arms. 

"It's so good to see you, my girl!" Joseph Stryfe said, pushing Meryl back a little so he could look at her. "You're looking wonderful!" 

"Thanks Dad," Meryl replied with a warm smile as she moved the tray from the table onto his bed and began to pour the coffee. 

"Did you bring that Stampede guy?" her father asked, his eyes twinkling a bit. 

"I didn't bring him, Dad, that would have been unfair of me. He, Milly, and Wolfwood-san all volunteered to come with me," Meryl answered, handing her father his mug. 

"Ahhh, I know that had to have eased your mind," Joseph said, taking a sip of his coffee. 

"What?" 

"Don't give me that innocent face," he teased. "I know you too well, remember? You probably couldn't find a substatute to take on the Vash the Stampede case and didn't know what to do about him. And if what Lucy has been telling me is true, then you probably wanted him to come along with you, correct?" 

Meryl shifted uncomfortably underneath her father's gaze, squashing down the little voice in her mind, whispering that he was right. She instead turned her attention to her father, taking in all the changes in his appearance since the last time she had seen him. His eyes were still as piercing and frank as always, but the rest of his appearance had undergone a drastic change. The last time she had seen him, his jet black hair had been lightly sprinkled with gray, now the whiteness of it stood out in stark contrast with the dark brown of the headboard. Wrinkles mapped a face that was brown and leathery from years of working out in the desert conditions of the planet, but it seemed to Meryl that even more had appeared in the short time since she had last been home. 

"What's happened, Dad?" she asked softly, her eyes intent upon his face. 

Joseph took a sip of his coffee before he sat it carefully back down on the tray. He raised his eyes and met those of his eldest daughters. He closed his eyes briefly, gathering his thoughts, before opening them and regarding Meryl calmly. 

"You're father is getting old, Meryl," he said. 

Meryl snorted. "Don't give me that line. You told me you were getting old every time you had a birthday. Lucy told me that this change has been sudden, and I have a feeling that you're holding back something. I know you too well." 

"That you do," Joseph sighed. "Well, I probably shouldn't try to keep it from you, you'll just drag it out of me. You always were a determined child." 

"Don't try to distract me with stories from my childhood," Meryl gently admonished, giving her father a crooked grin. 

"Ah, yes, and you were always hard to distract, too. What makes you such a good insurance agent, Meryl, and it's what will keep you going when things seem to be hopeless." 

"Dad?" Meryl was starting to get concerned, this didn't sound like her father at all.   
  
Joseph shook his head, and said simply, "I'm dying." 

Meryl stared at her father, her eyes wide. It was like her brain was randomly shutting down in some places, and speeding up in others. A buzzing filled her ears and began to take up her entire focus. She didn't realize that she had risen to her feet and was staring down at her bed ridden father, terror and dispair warring in her expression. Her hands clenched into fists at her sides. 

"No," she whispered. 

"Meryl, sit down." 

"No." 

"Meryl . . . " 

"**_NO_**! You CAN'T be dying! You're not even sixty! It's just . . . . just. . . . ." 

"MERYL!" 

Meryl jerked and fell silent, her father's sharp tone penetrating the fog that had been over taking her brain and allowing her a chance to take control of her chaotic thoughts once again. Joseph sighed and shook his head. 

"Meryl, I AM dying, but it's not something that's going to happen tomorrow." 

"How can you be so sure?" Meryl demanded, still on her feet as she struggled to bring this situation back under control, her logical brain demanding answers that her father had. 

"Because I've seen it happen many times in our family," Joseph answered, then gestured to Meryl's vacated chair. "You should sit down again." 

"I don't understand," she whispered. "I don't remember any other family members having a sudden . . . age spurt." 

"That's because we've taken pains to hide it from the younger members of the family. No reason for you to panic over something you can't change." 

Meryl was silent for a bit, digesting what she'd been told, then said, "You're telling me now." 

Joseph recognized her comment for the statement it was, and not the accusation that it could have potentially sounded like. Meryl had always been the logical, straight forward one of his four children, and he knew that stating facts like the previous one was her way of keeping control of the situation. 

"Yes, I am. I knew that once I started to fall ill Lucy would write to you, and that you wouldn't take any of the standard answers we always gave you when you were children." 

Meryl furrowed her brow as a few foggy childhood memories began to trickle in. She could vaguely hear her father telling her that her grandfather was going to be living in a retirement home off the Geo Plant, and much later telling her that he had died of a heart attack. She looked back at her father, and he saw the dawning comprehension on her face. 

"What is it?" Meryl asked. 

"To be honest, I don't know. It's something that has happened to all members of our family ever since our ancestors first made Planet Fall. My grandfather once said that he felt like something happened to our molecular make-up in cryo-sleep, something that damaged our genes and our natural aging process. We remain hale and hearty for most of our lives, and then suddenly we age ten years in under ten weeks. Our bodies eventually shut down entirely," Joseph explained. 

"Is there another theory as to why this happens?" Meryl asked, feeling her control slip a little at her father's words. 

Joseph was silent for a second, weighing his words, before he finally said, "I'm sure Lucy has told you the rumors that are floating around about Val." 

In an instant, Meryl was once again on her feet, "If you're going to tell me that Val's behind this sudden aging, I won't believe it. It's not in their nature to so something like this!" 

"Calm down, Meryl, I was only making sure that you knew of the rumors so that you wouldn't be surprised by them. No, I don't think Val is behind this, as you said, it's just not their nature to be this way. My grandfather once thought the Geo Plant had something to do with the sudden change, but the local doctor convinced him that theory was wrong," Joseph said calmly. 

Meryl flushed a bit and sat back down, mentally berating herself for losing control. She was silent for several minutes as she resumed sipping at her coffee, trying to come to terms with what Joseph had told her. As her thoughts whirled around, something Lucy said earlier came back and caught her attention. 

"Dad," she said softly, "Why did you put a restirction on the house budget?" 

"So," Joseph said, sounding suddenly tired and for the first time, old, "Lucy told you about that, did she?" 

"Yes, she did. You've never restricted the house budget before." 

Joseph sighed slightly, and leaned over so that he could reach the drawer in his bedside table. He opened it up, and took a large ledger out and handed it to Meryl. Without a word she took the book from him, recognizing the old book and opened it up to the page that she wanted. What she saw caused her eyes to jerk up and she stared at her father. 

"But, where has this debt come from? Last I heard the business and Plant were doing well." 

"Your father is an old fool," Joseph said. 

"And why do you say that?" 

Joseph turned his head and gazed out the window. "About a year or so ago, a lot of the mortgages on the shops and homes in Key Town were suddenly called in for no apparant reason, and everyone came here asking my advice. Unfortunantly, there wasn't much advice that I could give them, but I didn't want to see the Johnson's succeed in driving the families of Key Town out, so I . . .," he trailed off, and Meryl got a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach. 

"Dad," she said softly, and Joseph jerked slightly, then fidgeted with his coverlet, sending Meryl's nervous butterflies into overdrive. Instead of answering, Joseph reached back into the drawer, and handed Meryl a folded piece of paper. With trepidation, Meryl opened it and slowly ran her widening eyes over it's contents. 

"You're telling me that you took out a loan and offered up the Plant as collateral." It was more a statement than a question, but Joseph answered her. 

"No, not the Plant proper. The government wouldn't allow that. It's the land the Plant is on that's the collateral," Joseph corrected. 

Meryl stared at her father, and asked, "What did you do with the money?" 

Joseph didn't answer. Instead, he turned his gaze back to the window, which, Meryl suddenly remembered, faced the directioin that key Town was in. 

"You used it to pay off Key Town's mortgage debt," she said flatly. "When is the loan due?"   
  
"In ten months," Joseph answered, and felt Meryl's horrified gaze. "Times have been tough and the people I helped pay the mortgage for have been unable to repay what I loaned them. That's why we're in such deep debt. I didn't plan to fall ill." 

Meryl suddenly buried her face in her hands, and her shoulders began to shake. Her father glanced at her worriedly, and he grew a little alarmed when a spat of hysterical laughter escaped Meryl's lips. 

"Oh Lord, this is too much!" Meryl giggled. "This is exactly like those awful old Western novels that mom used to read." Her voice began to waver between a higher and lower octave as she began to say, "You must pay the rent! But I can't pay the rent! You must pay the rent! But I can't pay the rent!" 

"Meryl!" Joseph said sharply, and Meryl hiccuped slightly before lifting her head and gazing at her father. "I want you to know that I trust you." 

Meryl stared at her father, feeling her world start to slip even more off-kilter with his next words. "I know you'll think of something to help pay off at least some of the debt, or at least buy us some more time to give the residents a chance to pay us what they owe. This slump in the economy is bound to end. Then we'll be able to get back on our feet financially and go from there." 

Meryl couldn't believe what she was hearing. She was torn between pride that her father had so much confidence in her, and a chaotic swirl of other, more negative, emotions that were threatening to overwhelm and suffocate her. Her thoughts were in an uproar. _Six months . . . . debt . . . . father's dying . . . . genetic disorder . . . . collateral . . . Val . . . Val . . ._

Meryl got to her feet, her face tight with her barely contained emotions. She wanted to lash out at her father for putting her in this position, but at the same time she knew it wasn't his fault that he fell ill from this strange genetic disorder that had struck her family for generations. She carefully began to collect the coffee mugs and replaced them on the tray, and gave her father a tight smile. 

"I'm going to put these in the kitchen. You look worn out from our conversation," she said softly. 

Something that looked like both bitterness and regret flashed across Joseph's face, and then was gone in an instant. "You're going to see Val, aren't you?" he asked, and Meryl paused to look into her father's eyes. Seconds ticked by, the silence seeming to stretch the moment out paper-thin, only releasing when the dark-haired girl gave a small nod of her head as she slowly turned and walked out the door, pausing only to shut it behind her. 

When she reached the kitchen, she sat the tray down and then ran to her room to grab the keys to the car they had rented in Septembre, and strode out the door. There was only one thought circulating in her brain. She had to get to Val. 

_To be continued . . . .___

Terms: 

Tongari - Needle-noggin' 

Oneechan - Big sister 

Hai - Yes. ^_^ 

Bokushi-san - Mr. Priest 

-san - An honorific title like Mr. and Miss I just think it sounds better sometimes. ^_^ 

Niichan/Niisan - Big brother. The reason for the difference is because Randy is slightly older than Ron (which he likes to remind Ron at times) and this is to differentiate between the two. 

Senpai - Most people are familar with this term in it's usual school use, where it translates into Upper Classman. In Milly and Meryl's case, her use of "senpai" shows us that Meryl is actually the senior partner of the M & M duo. ^_^ If I left anything out in the terms, gomen (sorry).   
  



	5. The Tour

**Notes**: I know, about time I got this out, right? In my defense, it's been a Hell of a year between losing my job, being unemployed, getting a new job, settling in, yadda yadda yadda. A HUGE thanks goes out to Jaina, Zanne, EG, Astra M., and Arafel for riding my ass about this chapter over the last year. Another big thanks goes to everyone who's reviewed this fic and encouraged me to keep going. This chapter was very very hard for me, I had the final image in my head, but I had to go through the tour before the last scene could be written. *sigh* After all the fights with writer's block I had, I certainly hope you guys enjoy it. Thanks again! Alyson M.  
  
  
  
Chapter Five  
The Tour  
  
  
Wolfwood doubled over, wrapping his arms around his waist as he wheezed, trying to drag air into his starving lungs. The problem was, he couldn't stop laughing long enough to drag in a single breath of oxygen, and his face was beginning to turn an interesting shade of purplish red as tears began to stream down his cheeks. Lucy eyed him worriedly, but with the sound of a dying fish Wolfwood managed to suck in some air and wheezed a little more. The two objects of his amusement were currently facing each other and arguing over whether or not Milly's hearing was as perfect as she said it was.  
  
"I did NOT scream Mommy!" Vash insisted for the fiftieth time, wishing once again that his gun arm was out of its sling so he could move his hands around.  
  
"You did, Vash-san! Senpai and I heard you yell 'MOMMY!' as you jumped onto the other side of that hill," Milly replied. (_See episode one of the anime and listen REAAAAAALLY closely)_  
  
Wolfwood managed to control his laughter enough to say shakily, "N-nice first i-impression you gave, Tongari! N-no wonder the Small Girl was convinced you weren't Vash the Stampede."  
  
Having said that, Wolfwood snorted and began to laugh again, this time hitting the ground on his knees as his legs gave out beneath him. Vash glared at his currently incapacitated friend, then turned his attention back to Milly.  
  
"I'm sure you misheard me. I probably yelled something like OH NO or WHOA! I was dodging an awful lot of bullets at the time."  
  
"Oh no, it was Mommy."  
  
"Is it always like this?" Lucy asked Wolfwood, who seemed to be getting himself under control once again.  
  
"Most of the time? Yes. It gets even more interesting when your sister is with us," Wolfwood answered, climbing to his feet and dusting off his pants, being very careful not to glance in Vash or Milly's direction.  
  
"I can imagine," Lucy said, humor lighting up her eyes and deepening her voice a bit. "Meryl-oneechan isn't your calm and demure type."  
  
"Well, that's one way of explaining it," Wolfwood replied.   
  
Lucy grinned at him, then turned her attention back to the blond and brunette. "Are you two finished?" she asked. "Now that Wolfwood-san has stopped trying to suffocate himself, I'd like to show you around the Forest and introduce you to some of the care takers if they're still around."  
  
Vash grinned at Lucy sheepishly, while Milly smiled serenely, planning to get Meryl to tell her version of events and clear up Vash's cloudy memory. The group moved off at a leisurely pace, Vash, Milly and Wolfwood answering questions from Lucy and telling her stories from their travels together. As they got closer to the wooded area of the Geo Plant that Lucy called The Forest, the ground beneath their feet gradually changed from sand and rock to velvety grass. They paused as they reached the first shade tree, and Wolfwood gazed around him in awe.  
  
"This is the first time I've ever seen a Geo Plant of this size," he remarked, staring at the tall oak tree and eyeing the tangled underbrush that covered the area beneath the tree.  
  
"Then you're in for a real treat," Lucy said, smiling as she lead the group onto one of the many small trails that, as they continued to move deeper into the shade, crisscrossed with dozens of other foot paths, each one skewering off in a separate direction. "We have these footpaths so that we can move around and tend to the smaller details without having to remove too much of the underbrush."  
  
"Why don't you clear it all out?" Wolfwood asked curiously as they passed a particularly thorny looking tangle.  
  
"You'd be amazed at how that would effect the Plant as a whole," Lucy answered. "All of these plants work together as part of a larger whole, and if we took away the underbrush it would disrupt the balance we have going here. When parts of the underbrush and trees die, it falls to the ground and begins to decompose, providing nutrients for the root system of the entire area. The underbrush also helps to shield the roots and lower trunks of the trees from the intense cold of night, and it provides cover from the cold for the smaller seedlings."  
  
As Lucy continued to answer questions from Wolfwood and occasionally Milly, Vash looked around, becoming more and more impressed with the level of care and attention that had enabled the trees to grow to their impressive height, and kept such a huge area green and healthy. He saw many of the trees that Rem had taught him the names of, and many others that he didn't recognize. His eyes widened as they turned a small bend and a small, bent and slightly twisted tree came into view crowned with hundreds of small, white flowers.  
  
"What tree is that?" he asked.  
  
"That's a Flowering Dogwood," Lucy answered. "There's a really cool legend that goes with it. I can't remember if I read it somewhere or heard it from someone else, but would you be interested in hearing it?"  
  
"Sure!" the others responded, and Lucy stepped off the path and beckoned for them to follow her up to flowering tree.  
  
"While I'm telling this story, you might want to take a closer look at the flowers," she said, and the group moved closer to the tree, and Vash found himself marveling at how the petals of the flower itself were solid white until the end of the petal, which had a small indent in it that looked almost like someone had punched a hole in the end of the petal. Here, the color changed from pure white to an almost rusty red, and Vash wished briefly that Rem were here to see it.  
  
Lucy gazed up at the tree, and began, "An old and beautiful legend has it that, at the time of the Crucifixion, the dogwood was comparable in size to the oak tree and other monarchs of the forest. Because of its firmness and strength, it was selected as the timber for the cross, but to be put to such a cruel use greatly distressed the tree. Sensing this, the crucified Jesus in His gentle pity for the sorrow and suffering of all said to it: 'Because of your sorrow and pity for My sufferings, never again will the dogwood tree grow large enough to be used as a cross. Henceforth it will be slender, bent and twisted, and its blossoms will be in the form of a cross; two long and two short petals. In the center of the outer edge of each petal there will be nail prints; brown with rust and stained with red; and in the center of the flower will be a crown of thorns, and all who see this will remember.' The author is either unknown, or has been lost over time, but I always thought it was a rather pretty story."  
  
Milly and Wolfwood gazed at the tree in slight awe, Wolfwood especially thinking over the teachings he'd received at the orphanage where he was raised. A strange, gurgling whimpering sound abruptly broke the mood, and as one Wolfwood, Lucy and Milly turned their heads in Vash's direction to find his innocent aqua green eyes wide and water filled, tears streaming down his cheeks as his mouth distorted with the effort to contain his sobs. Wolfwood gave him an exasperated look, while Lucy felt a rather large drop of sweat roll down the back of her head.  
  
"Geeez, Tongari, you're such a crybaby!" Wolfwood sighed as Vash finally burst into full fledged sobs.  
  
"I can't help it! That story was so moving!" Vash wailed, earning him a whap across the head courtesy of Wolfwood.  
  
"Is . . . is he . . . ," Lucy couldn't seem to gather her thoughts enough to finish, and Milly, sensing the young woman's unspoken question, nodded. "Yep, this is normal for him."  
  
Lucy shook her head, and decided to just simply walk away from the sobbing blond and exasperated priest, trusting that they would follow her in their desire to tour the Plant. She smiled to herself as Vash and Wolfwood's bickering let her know that they had indeed followed her, Milly's occasional comments causing a now predictable reaction from the two men. Wolfwood would burst into laughter while Vash groaned in embarrassment, with Milly asking him why he was embarrassed, after all, it wasn't shameful that he had thrown up all over the place when Frank Marlon had asked his name. He had consumed a lot of booze that night.  
  
"I've never seen someone get drunk as much as you do, and still be unable to hold the liquor," Wolfwood, for lack of a better word, cackled.  
  
"One of these days Cross Punisher is going to be shoved down your throat," Vash promised darkly, "And I'll just sit back and laugh."  
  
"Sure, Tongari, suuuuuuure," Wolfwood drawled, reaching into his shirt and pulling out yet another of his crumpled cigarettes.  
  
Lucy shook her head in amusement, imagined Meryl traveling around with this particular group, and had to stifle her laughter. Knowing Meryl, she had probably gone rather loudly insane several times during their travels, and Lucy half heartedly wished she had been with them to see it. Though if she were honest with herself, she was thankful that she was home, helping with the Geo Plant and Thomas herd. She really was more of a homebody than Meryl had ever been. Especially after . . . . .   
  
Lucy's thoughts trailed off when the sound of voices up ahead reached her, and she smiled. She had hoped they would find this particular group before heading over in the direction of the Thomas complex. She knew the exact moment the group ahead became aware that there were people heading towards them because all talk had ceased, and all heads were turned in their direction as they came out from under the canopy of trees and stepped onto one of several cleared areas. Five people were lounging around the meadow, half finished lunches hanging in their hands as they gazed at the new comers. One redheaded young man grinned, and got to his feet, walking over and sweeping Lucy up in a large hug before setting her back down.  
  
"I'm guessing Meryl got your message," he grinned down at her, before turning his attention to the newcomers.  
  
"This is my husband, Ryan O'Conner," Lucy said by way of introduction, and the large man gave them a friendly grin and extended a massive hand out.  
  
"This is Vash," Lucy continued as the blond gunman had his hand grasped and firmly, but not uncomfortably, pumped in greeting. "And this is Nicholas D. Wolfwood."  
  
Wolfwood eyed the large hand for a second, before gingerly extending his own and having it shaken in a similar manner to Vash's. The two men exchanged glances as Milly enthusiastically greeted the large man with a hug and a kiss on the cheek. Ryan O'Conner stood a good three inches taller than Milly, and subsequently he dwarfed his wife. His face was lean and angular, but he wasn't scrawny or lanky. Instead he was built like one of those Earth bears they had studied about in school, all muscle and sinew with a winning smile and a shock of flaming red hair and vivid blue eyes. They weren't allowed to marvel for long, though, as they were taken around and introduced to everyone, the last two being a set of twins that were obviously Meryl and Lucy's younger brothers, Ron and Randy Stryfe. Their identical features were similar to Meryl's, only broader and more masculine, with light brown hair and the same crushed violet eyes. They took to Wolfwood and Vash immediately, sensing that in these two men dwelled the same mischievous spirit as their own.  
  
"I'm really glad you came with Meryl-oneechan," Ron, or was it Randy, said.  
  
"Yeah, we didn't know if she'd bring Vash the Stampede with her or not," the other one said.  
  
"There's even a betting pool over in the bunk house about whether or not you were going to come."  
  
"I guess we'll have to divvy out the winnings tonight then."  
  
"Randy-niisan," Lucy said, sounding slightly exasperated. One of the twins looked at her and flushed a bit.  
  
"We're not the ones that started the betting pool," Randy protested.  
  
"It was Sean," Ron supplied, causing Lucy to sigh again.  
  
"That's shameful and you know it," Lucy replied, but couldn't help laughing a bit. "You should finish up eating, lunch is only five more minutes and then it's back to work."  
  
"Awww, Lucy-oneechan, can't we take the rest of the day off because of our guests?" Ron whined slightly, the small grin on his face saying that he didn't expect to get let off of duty.  
  
"Of course not," Ryan said amiably, and clapped massive hands on each on the twins shoulders.   
  
"You can bug our guests later tonight at dinner, boys," Lucy said firmly, and turned to her group with a smile as Ryan led the boys back to their lunches, where they finished their food in record time and then dispersed. Within seconds the clearing was empty with only a few shouted words back and forth between the workers letting the tour group know that they had even been there.  
  
"They're one in a group of four Tree Caretakers," Lucy said, continuing their tour as she walked across the clearing and they were once again plunged into the shadowed canopy. "It's their job to check each and every tree in the Plant and record how it's doing, it's growth process, whether or not it needs treatment for disease, and whether or not the diseased trees are doing better. Every now and then we have to cut down one or two to make room for some of the smaller trees that are starting to grow in the underbrush."  
  
"How often to you do the cutting?" Wolfwood asked, gazing around at the healthy plants in awe.  
  
"Most of the time only twice a year, and then it's only diseased trees that we haven't been able to cure."  
  
"Have you ever sold trees to craftsmen or wood workers?" Vash asked.  
  
"I heard that our grandfather used to sell trees to wood workers, but our father put a stop to that when he came into control of caring for the Plant. He says there is no reason to cut down healthy trees, no matter how much money is offered, and we all agree with him. And they don't pay for diseased trees, so," Lucy shrugged.  
  
"What do you do with the trees you do cut down?" Wolfwood asked.  
  
"We have a machine that cuts them up into tiny chips, and we spread them around the area. When they break down they serve as fertilizer for the other plants and trees. It helps to keep the other trees healthy," she answered.  
  
The rest of the Geo Plant tour was relatively silent, with Lucy occasionally pointing out a different tree species such as the White Birch, but for the most part everyone was left with their own thoughts as they enjoyed the cooler temperatures under the canopy. Milly especially delighted in holding her hands out and letting the patterned light play over her fingers. Wolfwood turned and caught her at it once, and she smiled shyly at him. Grinning back, Wolfwood held his own hands out, letting the light dapple his skin. He was amazed that he was even allowing himself to take such pleasure in such a simple action. He glanced over at Milly, noticing out of the corner of his eye that Vash was mimicking their actions, as well. Perhaps it was the peaceful setting that allowed them to relax in a way that they had never gotten a chance to before with all the traveling and running from bounty hunters and trying to track down Knives. Then something else caught his attention.  
  
"Tongari, put your arm back in that sling."   
  
"I don't like it!" the tall gunman pouted.  
  
"Vash-san, you really should keep your arm in the sling so that it will heal," Milly commented, moving closer in an effort to help turn her words into action.  
  
Vash sighed, and allowed the taller girl to help return his arm to it's sling. He had no doubt that if he had protested she would have told Meryl about it when they got back to the house, and he really didn't relish the idea of being on the business end of her glare yet again.   
  
"She should try and package that glare," Vash thought to himself. "It's as effective as one of her Derringers shoved under your nose."  
  
The group began walking again after Vash's arm was once again safely in its sling, and Vash noticed that the underbrush was getting thinner and the general area was starting to lose some of the protective shade they'd been walking under. He looked ahead and spotted a break in the trees. A few moments later they emerged from underneath the sheltering trees and once again stood on the desert soil with the twin suns blazing overhead. All four of them blinked rapidly, temporarily blind from the sudden change in light.   
  
"Ready to check out the Thomas complex?" Lucy asked once everyone had stopped squinting at each other.  
  
"Sure!" Milly replied, and Vash agreed with her. Wolfwood opened his mouth, an uncomfortable look flashing across his face. He knew Vash's reputation for disaster whenever a Thomas was around, but he closed it when he noticed Milly's excitement and Vash's enthusiasm. With a sigh, he nodded his agreement, and reached into his jacket to pull out his trademark crumpled cigarette.  
  
They heard the Thomas complex before they saw it. There were some rhythmic thumping noises followed by the sounds of several men shouting encouragement or jeers. Vash and Wolfwood exchanged uneasy glances, both thinking the same thing. They never seemed to have any luck whenever they were around large groups of people, but especially large groups of men. Neither gunman was happy that they were handicapped. Wolfwood had left his cross back at the house, and Vash was hampered by his sling.  
  
"You don't need to worry," Milly said, glancing at them and reading the uneasiness on their faces. "Everyone here is either family or friends."  
  
"That's right," Lucy said over her shoulder. "You're quite safe here."  
  
Vash wasn't really assured by that statement. Lucy didn't know about Knives, nor did she know that Knives could easily find Vash through their mental connection. No matter how hard he tried to block Knives from him, his twin always seemed to find a way around or through the mental barricades and pin point Vash's very location. Then he'd send one of his Gung-ho Guns after his brother, and the surrounding area would turn into a blood soaked battlefield, though if Vash could help it no one would be killed. That was one of the main reasons why he hadn't wanted to travel with Meryl and the rest to her family home, and had greatly welcomed the out that Meryl had given him . . . . until Wolfwood, and the image of strangely sad eyes the color of a bruised violet, had tugged on his conscious . . . and something else. Something that Vash wasn't ready to confront yet, so it went ignored.   
  
Vash felt that it was only a matter of time before one of Knives selected psychopaths, maybe even Legato himself, would come hunting for him. He had to make sure that Meryl and everyone else would be all right here before he left. He didn't want to cause the smaller insurance girl anymore worry or stress than what she was already facing, though the truth of the matter was that Meryl seemed to thrive on stress. A small smile graced the Stampede's lips at that thought. Meryl fairly seemed to vibrate with energy when she got stressed, and more than once Vash had wondered if there was a way to harness that energy. He bet Meryl could run a small town in a way similar to a Plant if the right methods were utilized.  
  
Vash was pulled away from his darkening thoughts by several yells, an inhuman screech, and a loud thud. These were followed by a lot of male voices whooping and hollering, along with several jeers tossed in for good measure.  
  
"Oh, that had to hurt!" a voice said.  
  
"Do you think he hit his head?" another asked.  
  
"Naw, he's jest faking. Git him up on his feet, he'll be fine," a third said.  
  
The trio of tour folks found themselves being led up to a large round wooden corral, with half a dozen men in large cowboy hats sitting on the top rail. As they got closer, they found that the object of their scorn was another man in the center of the corral bending over to pick up his hat, the left side of his body covered in dust and grime. He grinned sheepishly at the watching group as he limped over to a smaller, chute like area attached to the corral. As he disappeared into the chute, Vash and the others heard a strange grunting noise, followed by the inhuman scream that they'd heard before. The other men didn't notice the arrival of Lucy and her charges, their entire attention was focused on the gate that lead into the small chute the sounds were coming from.  
  
A few seconds later the gate opened, and a very angry Tomas burst out of the chute, twisting its body around and around and violently shaking all over in an effort to dislodge the man that was now on its back. There were times it shook so violently, or moved its body in such a way that Vash wondered why it didn't lose its balance and fall over. They could tell that the man on its back was having a hard time hanging on, his legs were flailing around and the muscles in his arms bulged with the effort. But hang on he did, until the Tomas had exhausted itself and instead of moving violently it moved around the corral at a sedate walk, its sides heaving as it breathed in and out.   
  
The group sitting on the fence let up a loud cheer of congratulations, and began to argue between each other about who would get the next Thomas. It was during that argument that a tall lanky man with strawberry blond hair and glasses perched on his nose looked over and spotted Lucy and her group. He gave a grin of greeting, nudged the man next to him, and then everyone became aware of their presence.  
  
"Howdy there, Lucy-san!" the lanky man greeted. "I heard that Meryl-san had come home. Are these her friends?"  
  
"Hey there, William," Lucy said warmly, giving the man a hug before turning to introduce him to her companions. "William Lackey, this is Vash, Milly Thompson, and Nicholas D. Wolfwood, friends of Meryl-oneechan. This is William Lackey, head of the Thomas complex and the top Thomas breeder on the planet."  
  
"You flatter me, Lucy-san," William said with a grin. "It's a pleasure to meet ya'll. I can give you a quick tour of the complex and coops, if you like, once we're done with the preliminaries here."  
  
"Pre-what?" Milly asked curiously. Wolfwood remained silent and eyed the corral and the animal that was in it distrustfully.  
  
"It's the preliminary breaking process," William explained. "Kind of like the ground work, or the beginning of the training. The Thomas you see in the corral are all racing Thomas and are old enough now to be ridden, but they've never had anyone on their back and don't take kindly to the first go round, as Jim over there," he indicated the man whose left side was covered with grime, "demonstrated earlier. Now, we don't like to break their spirits, so we never use any other methods other than just simply throwing one of the men on their back and letting the Thomas exhaust itself. If we do this every day, eventually the Thomas gets used to us being on its back and comes to accept a rider peacefully. A good racing Thomas has to have more than strong legs and a strong back. He's gotta have a winning spirit, and you don't get that by starving them and not letting them come to terms with a rider in their own time."  
  
"But wouldn't just throwing men on top of the Thomas until it was too tired to fight actually break their spirits?" Milly asked, confusion in her eyes. "I mean, you're still forcing the issue on them."  
  
"No ma'am, it doesn't break their spirits," William said kindly. "Thomas are a tough, hardy bunch, and because we never slack in their feed or limit their access to water, they're able to meet us at full strength, instead of the harsher methods other racing Complexes use. One of our top competitors has been known to starve their Thomas for several days, and not allow them water for a week before climbing on their backs. That breaks the spirit faster than any of us hanging on for dear life does."  
  
"That's horrible!" Milly cried, looking for all the world like she wanted to visit the other Complex and introduce them to her Stun Gun.  
  
Vash agreed whole heartedly with her, but Wolfwood let out a violent sneeze before he could launch into his "Equality and Love for All Living Things" speech. Vash blinked in surprise as Wolfwood proceeded to double over, the sneezes coming so rapidly that he barely had time to catch is breath before the next one erupted out of him. After a few moments and several worried queries about whether or not he was all right, Wolfwood straightened up and caught his breath.  
  
"I'm all right," he said, sniffling a bit as his nose began to tickle again. "Inhaled too much dust."  
  
"That's easy to do out here, especially with the Thomas kicking up the sand," William said, indicating the corral behind him.  
  
"Let's move a little ways away," Lucy suggested, and Milly instantly agreed, grabbing a hold of Wolfwood's elbow as he once again started to sneeze, and gave it a tug. Unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on your point of view) she tugged a bit more sharply than she had intended, and Wolfwood, already slightly off balance from the sneezing, was sent careening into her. The two collided, tripped, and then met the ground in a rather compromising position. Wolfwood would have laughed if it hadn't been for the fact that his face was buried in Milly's ample chest, and his legs being entangled with hers suggested that they wouldn't be able to move for at least a few seconds.   
  
Milly had let out a startled squeak when Wolfwood had crashed into her, and now shock held her still as she tried to sort out the last few seconds. The fact that one of Wolfwood's thighs was wedged between her own was creating quite a distraction, causing her brain to melt as a fluttery sensation attacked her nerves. She was just beginning to enjoy the feeling when a laughing Vash leaned over and hauled Wolfwood off of her, then turned and helped her to her feet.  
  
"Are you two all right?" Lucy asked, brushing the sand off Milly's clothing while Vash teased Wolfwood as the black clad priest dusted off his own clothing.  
  
"Yes, yes, we're fine," Wolfwood said, embarrassment clouding his voice a bit. "Ah, sorry about that, Big Girl."  
  
"It's all right, Bokushi-san!" Milly said cheerfully, giving him a wide grin, the incident seemingly pushed from her mind.  
  
Wolfwood returned the insurance girl's smile, before turning and smacking Vash upside the head yet again when the blond had slyly asked if he had enjoyed his little trip. He dearly wished the grinning gunman would forget that little slip of the tongue back when they had first found out about Meryl's father, but it looked like Vash had the memory of one of Earth's elephants. Maybe if he conked the spiky haired idiot on the back of the head . . . No, that would most likely only cause a headache, and not the amnesia he would be aiming for. Besides, he didn't want to hear another one of the smaller insurance worker's blasting lectures.  
  
Speaking Meryl's blistering lectures . . . "Tongari, you put your arm right back into that sling where it belongs!"  
  
"But," Vash begin, a pout forming on his face as he gingerly returned his injured arm to its much hated resting place.  
  
"Don't but me. You know the small girl is going to check your arm later, and if you've broken open that wound to even cause a trickle of blood to escape, it's going to be my head she rips off and bar-b-ques. Since I like my head where it is, I suggest you follow the doctor's orders," Wolfwood said. "And that means keeping your arm in that sling."  
  
Vash's sigh of despair, and the few tears for effect as he complied with Wolfwood's orders, caused Milly to giggle and Lucy to grin. William gave the lanky gunman a funny look, then glanced at Lucy with one eyebrow raised in question.  
  
"Yes," she said. "He's always like this."  
  
"I knew a bit of what to expect from the letters that Meryl-san had sent, but you just never really expect the man with sixty-billion double dollars on his head to be such a . . . well, cry baby," the Thomas Wrangler said with a shake of his head.  
  
"You're telling me," Lucy said, humor evident in her voice. "I suppose I should continue this tour if we're going to get to the Plant Center."  
  
The younger Stryfe sister waited until there was a lull in the minor argument that had sprung up between the tall blond, the smoking priest, and the taller Claims Investigator that appeared to be revolving around pudding, and called them over.   
  
"Would you like to see the rest of the Thomas Complex?" she asked when they reached her side. "We could go inside the coops and introduce you to the breeding program, or we could save that for another day and go straight to the Plant Control Center."  
  
"Let's go ahead and go to the Control Center," Milly said cheerfully. "We can see the rest of the Complex at another time. We should be getting back to the house soon, anyway. Senpai will start to worry."  
  
The two men nodded their agreement, and with a cheerful farewell in William's direction, the tour group began walking towards the focal point of everything they were seeing around them. As they headed towards the giant Plant bulb that stood in the distance, Lucy told them some of the back history of her family.  
  
"According to the records, the Stryfe family has been in charge of this Geo Plant ever since the Great Fall. Great-great-great-great-grandfather Stryfe was a Plant Engineer, and when he woke from cryo-sleep to find that everyone had crashed on the planet, he immediately began setting up the main Control Area that we're heading towards now. He had a lot of help, several other Engineers were also with this particular Plant, and there were plenty of young men and women wanting to learn how set up and maintain a working Plant. The Geo Plant was up and running within a year of Planet Fall, and enough young men and women were trained to be able to traverse from one fallen ship to another and help set up the Plants there. A few of the other Engineers stayed in this area and married into the Stryfe family, and they're the ones that are responsible for all the cousins you see running around. Ahhhh, here we are."  
  
The group halted in front of a building that was much larger than the one they'd seen in Inepril. Lucy reached out and punched in some numbers on the keypad, and the steel frame industrial strength door slid open with a nearly silent hiss. Cold air wafted out of the interior, and was a welcomed respite from heat of the twin suns outside. Once everyone was safely inside, the door slid shut with another light hiss, and for a moment no one moved as they allowed their eyes to adjust to the sudden half dark of the interior. Gradually the details began to come into focus, and they found themselves standing on the landing of a set of stairs. To their right the stairs descended down into the bowels of the building, and to their left the stairs ascended towards the Control Room, the area where all the computers and monitors were that maintained the health of the Plant. Lucy gestured for her guests to precede her up the stairs, and Vash began the climb first, placing his unbound hand on the railing to help him keep his balance. Wolfwood went next, then Milly, and finally Lucy, the only sounds the metallic clang of their footfalls on the metal stairs.  
  
Vash was all eyes, glancing around curiously and trying to take in everything he was seeing. It had been a long time since he had been inside an actual Geo Plant, and never one the size of this one. He kept his mind partially unblocked, and again he felt the familiar sensation of a Plant Angel, and was again struck by the strange difference between her and other Plant Angels he had encountered. Most of the other Plant Angels he had met felt . . .younger, more innocent in their outlooks on what they were doing and why they were part of this world. This Angel felt older, more mature, and the fact that she hadn't already responded to the, questioning touch of his own mind roused his curiosity, as well.  
  
As they continued the trek upwards, a low humming and clicking noise could be heard, lightly at first and then gaining strength as they began to reach the top of the stairs. The source of the sound was revealed when they reached the landing. Through an open doorway the tour group saw several people hunched over their computer terminals, the clicking noise being created as their fingers raced over the keyboard.  
  
"Welcome to the brains of the Geo Plant," Lucy said stepping through the doorway and greeting the technicians with a cheerful hello. Most of the technicians looked up and gave the group the vague smile that all preoccupied people wore, before returning to their duties in Plant maintenance. As Lucy began to tell her audience about the general duties the technicians had, one of the older technicians got to her feet and made her way to the group, stopping at Lucy's side. Lucy broke off her speech and turned her attention to the lady standing next to her as she leaned down and whispered something in her ear.  
  
Vash's brows drew together in concern as whatever the technician told their guide caused her to visibly pale. "Are you sure?" she asked, her voice shaking a bit as she paled further at the technician's nod. _"SHIT!"_  
  
Without a word, Lucy pushed past her guests and bolted down the stairs at such a pace it was amazing she kept her footing. The group blinked at each other in confusion for a second, before quickly following after her. As they clanged their way down the stairs, Vash could dimly pick up on Lucy muttering, "She NEVER comes here unless something's wrong. I knew it, damnit, I _knew_ it!"  
  
What she knew Vash couldn't begin to guess. His entire concentration was taken up with keeping his footing on the narrow stairs that zigzagged their way into the darkness below. The group was so used to running down the stairs that they nearly did lose their balance when the last step gave way to flat metallic sheeting that extended the entire length and width of the building. They spotted Lucy moving at a fast clip towards another set of doors, and they quickly caught up with her.  
  
"I'm so sorry," Lucy said when she realized that they were still behind her. "Something unexpected has come up, and I need to make sure that everything is all right."  
  
"Does it have to do with the Plant proper?" Vash questioned, thinking that if it had to do with the Angel he'd be able to help out. But Lucy shook her head, saying that it didn't have to do with the Plant itself. They had reached the doors at this point, and after more key pad typing, it slid open to reveal an area that was suffused with light. Everyone blinked against the sudden glare, once again having to pause to let their eyes adjust to the change.  
  
Lucy moved forward first, coming to halt at the landing of yet another staircase, and placed her hands on top of the railing, looking down in the bottom of the room they now found themselves in. Vash was the first to recover from the light change, and his eyes widened as he looked around, realizing that they were now inside the Plant proper, and hanging from the ceiling of the room was the glass housing that contained the Plant Angel. He took a step forward, and heard twin gasps from Milly and Wolfwood as they realized where they were. Here, the walls were completely bare of everything, no electronics, no computers, the only technology in the room was the Plant Bulb, and the small console down on the floor that was a direct connection to the computers upstairs that maintained the Plant's well being and power levels.   
  
Vash took a deep breath and smiled slightly. Here was all that was familiar to him, the gentle feel of the Angel brushing his mind, the humming of the bulb, and the gentle light the Angel herself gave off. He stepped up beside Lucy, glanced at her, and gave a slight start. Her face was still pale, only now it was drawn tight against her bones, tension in every line of her body, and her eyes were full of a nameless fear. He opened his mouth to ask her what was wrong, but Wolfwood, having stepped up to Lucy's other side, interrupted him.   
  
"Look at that," he said softly.  
  
Vash turned his eyes once again to the Plant chamber, and his eyes bugged to the size of his gun barrel as his jaw dropped so hard he got a metal splinter through his tongue. Standing at the bottom of the chamber was a small, extremely familiar figure dressed in white. Amazingly, the cause of Vash's surprise wasn't the fact that Meryl was standing in the Plant Chamber; after all, this was her home and Meryl had more of a right to be in the chamber then he did. No, what caused his eyes to bug was the fact that Meryl was standing next to the Plant Bulb, her arms raised and folded against the smooth glass and her head resting against them, her body tense and visibly, even from the distance he was viewing her from, trembling. His jaw had dropped when he saw what the Plant Angel was doing.  
  
She had her hands pressed against the glass near Meryl's head, staring at the small woman intently, and to Vash's utter astonishment she was stroking her right hand against her side of the glass, right where Meryl's head was resting against her raised forearms. It was a gesture eerily similar to the gentle stroking of a hand over an injured child's head, one he had seen countless mother's bestow upon their children in an effort to sooth the hurt and pain. In all his dealings with the Plant Angels around the planet, Vash had _never_ seen one initiate any kind of contact with their human counterparts. All of the previous Angels he'd encountered had been content to do their job and let the rest of the world pass by. They had never voluntarily approached the barrier that stood between their world and that of the humans unless either Vash or Knives had been present, and even then they had to be asked to come forward.  
  
The Angel turned her strange, pupiless golden eyes up to the group just as Vash was collecting his jaw from the hole it had created in the metal landing. He nearly lost hold of it again when a warm, friendly brush touched his mind.  
  
_Hello, Vash the Freeborn_.  
  
He must have made a faint strangling sound (after all, none of the other Plant Angels had voluntarily contacted him first) because Wolfwood and Milly turned towards him. Milly looked slightly worried, and her eyes kept darting from Meryl's tense figure to Lucy, then back to Vash. It was as if she didn't know which person to place her full concentration on, so she tried to divide her attention equally between the three.  
  
Wolfwood looked as stunned as Vash felt. He'd heard a few tales regarding Plant Angels himself during his wanderings, but never had he heard about one reacting to a human the way this one was to Meryl. It was strange, the way she gave the impression of trying to sooth the smaller insurance worker, despite the thick glass that separated the two. It was even stranger to find the Small Girl leaning against the bulb in such a way that it suggested she was actually _seeking_ comfort from the being trapped inside.  
  
Vash, finally finding his vocal cords again, turned to Lucy and stuttered, "Wha . . Where . .?"  
  
Lucy didn't appear to be listening, as once again she muttered, "I knew it! I knew something had to be terribly wrong, and this confirms it!"  
  
"Um, how does this confirm that something is wrong?" Vash asked, finally gaining Lucy's attention.  
  
Lucy smiled mirthlessly. "Because Meryl-oneechan always comes here when something's wrong. She's been doing it ever since we were children."  
  
"I don't understand," Vash said. "Why does she come here? Wouldn't she go to one of her friends or a family member? What about that friend of hers, um, Val?"  
  
This time Lucy gave a short, harsh laugh that contained all the fear she was feeling at that moment, and waved a hand towards her sister and the Plant Angel.  
  
"That _is _Val."  
  
_To Be Continued . . . . _  
  
Terms:   
Tongari - Needle-noggin'   
  
Oneechan - Big sister   
  
Hai - Yes. ^_^   
  
Bokushi-san - Mr. Priest   
  
-san - An honorific title like Mr. and Miss I just think it sounds better sometimes. ^_^   
  
Niichan/Niisan - Big brother. The reason for the difference is because Randy is slightly older than Ron (which he likes to remind Ron at times) and this is to differentiate between the two.   
  
Senpai - Most people are familar with this term in it's usual school use, where it translates into Upper Classman. In Milly and Meryl's case, her use of "senpai" shows us that Meryl is actually the senior partner of the M & M duo. ^_^ If I left anything out in the terms, gomen (sorry).   
  
  
  



	6. Surprises, Sisters and Revelations

**Note:** About damn time, Alyson.   
  
Chapter Six  
Surprises, Sisters, and Revelations  
  
"_That's Val_?!"   
  
Lucy winced at Wolfwood and Vash's simultaneous whisper-shout, but thankfully, Meryl didn't seem to hear them. Or she did hear them and chose to ignore them, which was highly unlikely considering that the older of the Stryfe sisters did like her privacy when something was seriously wrong.  
  
"Yes," Lucy said, giving a sigh. She knew it would be best if they didn't approach Meryl now, though none of her guests seemed inclined to move from the spot. Or, in Vash's case, return his jaw to somewhere above the vicinity of his shoulders. At least he had managed to free it from where it had crashed through the landing.  
  
"You named your Plant Angel?" Wolfwood asked.  
  
"No, Meryl-oneechan did," Lucy replied, the tension in her body giving way to a wariness of what the future now held for her and her family. "We don't know why, but she named her shortly after Momma died. Now, whenever something bad or stressful happens, she comes here. It's like this is her refuge."  
  
Vash was dimly aware of Lucy's words, and was filing away every sentence for examination and possible questions later. He just couldn't seem to take his eyes from Meryl's tense form. He kept running through all the reasons for the Plant Angel to be reacting the way she was, but everything he knew about his brethren was being thrown out the window. He vaguely heard Lucy mention returning to the main house to await Meryl's return, but he was reluctant to tear his eyes from the small, quivering form on the floor beneath him.  
  
He had just turned in the direction of the door when the warm, familiar, amused voice of the Plant Angel invaded his head once again.  
  
_So, just how well DO you know our Meryl?_  
  
Vash gave a start, not because of the voice in his head, he was used to conversing with the Plant Angels, but he was not used to hearing an amused, almost suggestive undertone to their words. Unfortunately, his left foot happened to be near the edge of the staircase, and when he jerked in surprise, he got caught up in his own feet, and pitched sideways. He promptly began a very painful and loud descent down the metal stairs as he tumbled head over heels in a series of thumps. He finally landed on the cold concrete floor in a painful tangle of lanky limbs and bruises. He stared up at the ceiling for several moments, then became aware of movement off to his right. He turned his head and winced from the heat of Meryl's glare.  
  
"Just WHAT do you think you're doing?!" she demanded, kneeling beside him.  
  
"Well I," he began, then stopped on a squeak when she began to unbutton his coat. "M-Meryl?!"  
  
"Shut up," she snapped. "If you tore open your shoulder I'm going to tie you to the bed until it's well."  
  
_Ooooo, kinky._  
  
Vash groaned, both from the soreness in his shoulder and from the amused voice in his head. _You're NOT helping any,_ he groused, only to hear a chuckle in return.  
  
Meryl pulled open Vash's jacket and managed to get the form fitting suit he wore underneath down in order to bare his bandaged shoulder. Vash closed his eyes and prayed that the wound hadn't reopened. It didn't feel like it had, but he never paid attention to pain much anymore (unless he thought hamming up his injuries would gain him some donuts) so it was hard for him to determine the true state of his injury. All he knew was that if it HAD opened again, Meryl probably _would _tie him down to the bed in order to keep him from moving around until it had fully healed.  
  
Meryl checked the bandage and was relieved to find it still pristine white. Just to be sure she lifted up an edge of it, but no fresh blood greeted her probing eyes, and with a sigh she relaxed and moved away, allowing him to repair the damage her searching hands had done to his suit and jacket. Once he was presentable again, he climbed to his feet, wincing a bit as abused muscles protested the movement.  
  
"Geez, Tongari," Wolfwood chuckled as he reached the bottom of the stairs, "You certainly know how to make an entrance!"  
  
"Are you all right, Vash-san?" Milly asked, her blue eyes concerned as she gazed at him.  
  
Vash rubbed the back of his head and nodded. He chose to ignore Wolfwood's baiting remark, and returned his attention to Meryl as Lucy reached the concrete floor.  
  
"Are you all right?" he asked quietly, his eyes taking in the taught lines of her face. Meryl seemed to stiffen at his question, but before she could blast him with her temper, Lucy intervened.  
  
"Meryl-oneechan," she said softly, her eyes dark with worry as they darted back and forth between Meryl and Val, who was still pressing her hands against the inside of her container as she watched the activity outside of her world.  
  
"I'll explain later," Meryl said, her shoulders suddenly sagging as if a great weight had suddenly crashed on top of them. "We're going to need to have a family get together. I know it's short notice, but do you think everyone can be assembled in the living room after dinner?"  
  
"Do you need everyone, or just the heads of the different departments?" Lucy asked cautiously, every fiber in her being screaming WARNING WARNING WARNING as she gazed at her sister.  
  
"The heads should be enough," Meryl replied after a few moments of thought. "There's no need for the kids to come, and I'm sure everyone else probably have plans for tonight."  
  
"Right," Lucy agreed. "I'll go find Ryan and give him the heads up. He can start letting everyone know so they can get ready or find someone to take their place at the meeting if they can't be there."  
  
Meryl nodded in agreement, her eyes losing some of their focus as her thoughts turned inwards. Vash and the others thanked Lucy for taking the time to show them around, and with a grin that was decidedly less bright than the one she'd had before they entered the Angel's chambers, she turned and left. The group was silent for a moment, then Milly stepped forward and laid her hand on Meryl's arm, bringing the senior insurance partner back from wherever she had gone.  
  
"What's wrong, Sempai?" Milly asked worriedly.  
  
Meryl glanced around the small group of worried faces, took a deep breath, and let out a sigh. She rubbed the bridge of her nose for a moment, then answered, "You'll find out at the meeting. We may have to be here for longer than I had originally thought. I'm pretty sure I know Milly's answer, but Vash-san, Wolfwood-san, Milly, I want you to know that I don't expect you to stay here the entire time that I have to be here. I'm sure there are other things you want or need to be doing."  
  
"Don't be silly, sempai!" Milly said, giving Meryl a reproachful look while Wolfwood nodded in agreement. Vash briefly thought about making a joke about all the broken hearts he was leaving behind in the big cities, but a flash of loneliness across Meryl's face caused him to halt his words. He had never seen such a vulnerable look on her face before, and it was gone so fast that he almost convinced himself that he'd imagined it. Almost.  
  
"Nothing better to do than dodge bounty hunters," he said instead, grinning down at the small insurance girl, though inside he began to worry about being found by Knives.  
  
_Don't worry_, came Val's gentle voice. _As long as you are here or in Key Town, you are under my protection_.  
  
_Your protection?_ Vash asked, curious.  
  
_Yes. Knives usually finds you by enlisting the help of our brethren, who don't know any better than to tell him what he wants to know.  
  
What makes you different? _  
  
He felt her amusement as she answered, _I'm old, that's what.  
  
I think there's more to it than that,_ he replied.  
  
Vash was pulled from his internal conversation when the group began to ascend the staircase. He turned and gave Val another glance, not surprised to see that she was still watching the group. Her eyes met his and she lifted a hand in a gesture of farewell, a movement that he returned before turning his attention to climbing the stairs without falling flat on his face again.  
  
--------------------  
  
  
The atmosphere in the living room was strained at best, down right nerve breaking at worst, as everyone moved around the area hunting for unoccupied seats or chairs. Many of the visitors were people that the group had met on their tour of the Complex, but there were a few new faces mixed in with the bunch. Vash figured that the new faces were the replacements for the department heads that were unable to attend the meeting due to prior duties or engagements. He noticed that the majority also carried note-taking supplies with them, probably in order to be able to report word for word what happened to the heads that couldn't be at the meeting.  
  
Meryl had confiscated a large over stuffed sofa chair and had settled into it with a large, leather bound book on her lap. She was positioned in such a way that she could easily see everyone in the room as they jostled and hunted up for seats of their own. Lucy had settled down on the love seat with Ryan while Milly and Wolfwood had dragged in two of the chairs from the dining room. Vash had snagged the other oversized sofa seat, and was sitting with the back against the wall, his eyes moving restlessly from the face of one person to another. He noticed that whenever someone would glance at the large book on Meryl's lap, his or her face would tense up and their eyes would grow wary.   
  
Vash's eyes returned to study Meryl's small form as she sat on the chair, taking in her tense composure and marveling at it. A few hours earlier, he had wandered into the kitchen in search of a snack and had found Meryl in the middle of making dinner, only instead of chopping vegetables she had been leaning against the cabinet, her shoulder's shaking with near silent sobs. He had watched her, torn between the near overwhelming desire to go and gather her into his arms in an effort to sooth her pain, and the knowledge that if he did so she would only pull away from him and most likely clobber him for coming upon her in a weak moment. He had opted for retreating, but he silently promised himself that if he came upon her in a similar state again, he'd forgo self-preservation in favor of offering some form of comfort.  
  
He was brought back to the pending meeting when the noise level in the room died down as everyone finally found their seats and turned their attention to the small, dark haired figure that was currently representing the head of the entire Geo Plant. He watched as her hands clenched nervously on the book for a moment before relaxing. _Meryl, nervous?_ The movement had been so slight that Vash wondered if he had imagined it, when her hands clenched again. He found himself wishing he were sitting closer to her, so that he could reach out, lay his hand over hers, and let her know that she was supported. He watched as she glanced around the room, her gaze touching briefly on everyone's face, before she glanced down at the volume in her hand. She opened her mouth, hesitated for the briefest of seconds, then spoke.  
  
"I want to think everyone for taking time out of their busy schedules for attending this impromptu meeting. I especially want to thank those who are here in place of those who couldn't make it. First off, I want it known that I am going against my father's wishes by calling this meeting."  
  
There was a ripple of surprise amongst the attendees, and Lucy sat up a little straighter on the couch, her eyes fastening on Meryl's face.  
  
"Most of you already know this, but Dad is very ill. He told me just this afternoon that the doctors don't know how much longer he's going to be around," she said, bending the facts in order to keep that part of their conversation secret, though she had every intention of telling Lucy and her brothers the truth in private. She glared at the few members of the meeting who jumped to their feet, causing them to pause before they returned to their seats. "Need I remind you," she said softly, "That Dad doesn't know I'm telling you any of this. It would go against his wishes if any of you went to see him for any reason regarding his illness. When he's ready, he will tell you himself. Until then, I ask that you respect his wishes."  
  
Lucy was regarding Meryl with narrowed eyes. She seemed to instinctly sense that there was something that Meryl was keeping back. Feeling her sister's eyes upon her, Meryl glanced up and gazed at Lucy. In the age-old way of siblings who had spent most of their lives with the other, Meryl managed to convey to Lucy that she would tell all to her siblings as soon as the house was empty. Lucy nodded once, and took up her former position of using Ryan as a back support.  
  
Meryl sighed as she waited for the minor chaos her announcement had caused to die down. She wasn't looking forward to what was coming up next. She opened up the large leather bound book that was occupying her lap as soon as most of the voices quieted. That movement caught everyone's attention, and an eerie hush fell over the room. Every single person present knew what that book was, and they also knew that it wasn't a good thing if Meryl had brought it from it's location in Joseph Stryfe's room. Apparently, the house budget hadn't been the only area that Joseph had cut back on. Meryl wasn't sure if that was a good thing or a bad thing, but at least she wouldn't have to spend an inordinate amount of time explaining the situation.  
  
As she glanced from face to face, the reality of the fact that what she was about to say would affect not only the people in the room, but everyone who depended on the Geo Plant for their lively hood, came crashing down on her shoulders. She wanted to fold into herself from the weight, to hide away from the responsibility that her father had placed in her hands. Sure, she had been responsible for Milly ever since they had first been paired up at Bernadelli, her being the senior partner and all, but there was a world of difference between a single partner and an entire community. As she began to panic slightly, her eyes landed on Vash, having been drawn there by the sheer fact that his coat was the brightest object in the room. Her gaze met his, and she felt the frantic fluttering in her stomach ease up. Vash's gaze was steady, his eyes concerned, and yet, at the same time, they were also supportive. It was almost like he was reaching out a steadying hand to help her safely navigate the edge between doing what she had to do, and outright panic. She took comfort from his unvoiced support, and as she continued her tour of the faces in the room, she saw the exact same expression mirrored on Milly and Wolfwood's faces. Drawing on their offered support, and taking comfort in the confident look Lucy was sending her, she took a deep breath and related everything her father had told her about the loan, and what it meant if they didn't raise enough money to successfully pay it off with interest.  
  
Thankfully, everyone waited patiently until she was finished to voice their shocked comments and questions. Several members complained that it had been unfair of Joseph Stryfe to pull such a move without consulting them; complaints that Meryl agreed with whole-heartedly. As the initial panicked furor died down, Meryl cleared her throat and began to speak again.  
  
"I not only called you all together in order to tell you about the loan, but to also ask for your help," she said, waiting until all eyes were once again on her. "I've been away from the workings and business area of the Geo Plant for many years now, and I'm not as up to date on what areas our current funds need to go to, while tightening down on some of our current budgets in order to obtain the money needed to pay off the loan. I need for all of you to get together with the other department heads and the other personnel, and brainstorm up ways to save and make extra double dollars. This has to be a group effort, because every single department will be affected no matter what the outcome is."  
  
The group sat in silence after Meryl finished, and then, one by one, each of the meeting participants stood up and agreed with her statement. A few even mentioned that they already had some ideas brewing, but they wanted to run them by their fellow coworkers before bringing them to Meryl's attention. The crowd slowly began to dwindle down until the only ones who remained were Meryl's immediate family along with Vash, Milly and Wolfwood. Vash wondered if he and the others should leave in order to let Meryl have some private time with her sister and brothers, but Milly seemed set on staying, and as long as Meryl didn't ask them to leave, then he figured it was all right if they stayed.  
  
"I know there's more," Lucy said quietly once the last person had left the room. "What are you not saying, Oneechan?"  
  
"It has to do with this illness of Dad's, doesn't it?" Ron asked flatly.  
  
Meryl sighed, letting her shoulders droop for the first time since the meeting had started as the weight of what her father had unfairly asked of her came to rest there once again. Lucy got to her feet and moved to Meryl's side. Leaning down, she wrapped the smaller of the Stryfe sisters in a gentle hug, letting her sister know without words that she was lending her some much needed physical support.  
  
"Yes, it does," Meryl said quietly, "But I think it's something that Dad should tell you himself."  
  
"What, now?" Ron asked, looking startled.  
  
"Now is as good a time as any," Meryl replied, and started towards the Stryfe patriarch's room. She glanced behind her and stopped when she saw that Ryan was hanging back a little. "You should come, Ryan. You're family, too." And Lucy will need you, she thought to herself.  
  
The large man gave her an uncertain look, then glanced at his wife. Lucy gave him a reassuring smile and held out her hand. Ryan relaxed and took it, following after the family as they vanished through the door and into the hallway.   
  
Milly, Wolfwood and Vash exchanged glances, and Wolfwood shrugged.  
  
"Whatever's going on there is for family only," he said, prompting Vash to roll his eyes.  
  
"You say that like we're in the habit of barging in on sensitive family discussions on a regular basis," the gunman groused, shifting his injured arm a bit in its sling.  
  
Wolfwood gave Vash a dirty look and was about to reply when Milly neatly stepped in and said cheerfully, "We can take this opportunity to get our luggage unpacked and get settled in our rooms."  
  
Vash and Wolfwood glared at each other before turning away and stalking off in the direction of the stairs. Milly followed after them and informed that they weren't allowed to fight while unpacking, because it might disturb the conversation going on below their rooms.   
  
"But he always starts it!" Vash and Wolfwood said in unison, then glared at each other some more.  
  
--------------------  
  
The sound of a sharp knife deftly cutting through vegetables was like a balm to Meryl's frayed nerves. Thirty minutes had passed since she had left her siblings in her father's room, and it had only taken a few minutes for her to be in the kitchen and preparing tomorrow night's dinner. For some reason cooking had always been able to soothe her whenever things seemed to be spiraling out of the control. She figured it was because she had a set course of rules to follow, and when they were followed to the letter, the results were always good.  
  
She sighed, and scooped the neatly sliced vegetables into the simmering pot on her right. Joseph Stryfe had been less than pleased with his eldest daughter when she had brought her siblings into his room and informed him that he was to tell them the truth, as well. The man had given her a glare that could have given Vash's "dangerous gunman" look a run for its money in terms of sending chills down a person's spine, but Meryl had held firm and Joseph had eventually given in. She knew he knew she was right, and with a slight nod in his direction, she had exited his room while quietly closing the door behind her.  
  
Shaking her head slightly, Meryl gave the simmering stew one last stir with her spoon, and was in the process of placing the pot's lid in place to allow the stew to cook overnight when a pair of arms wrapped around her from behind. She gave a muffled shriek as the lid dropped out of her hands and landed in its place on the pot with a clang. She relaxed almost instantly when she recognized the presence of her sister behind her.  
  
"Damnit, Lucy," she began to scold, only to stop when she felt her sister tighten her hold around her waist.  
  
"Thank you," Lucy said softly, her voice sounding like it was on the edge of tears.  
  
"It was only right that he told you and our brothers the truth, too," Meryl replied, feeling her own eyes start to sting with unshed tears.   
  
"That's not what I'm thanking you for," Lucy said, and pulled back to turn the elder Stryfe sister around to face her. "I'm thanking you for not trying to shoulder everything alone."  
  
"What are you talking about?" Meryl asked, confused.  
  
"Meryl-Oneechan, every time something bad happened, or some problem came up, you would never allowed me, or Ron-niichan or Randy-niisan to help you with them. In fact, you would never tell us that there had been a problem until long after the problem was solved. I know," Lucy said quickly when she saw Meryl open her mouth, "You did it because you were trying to protect us from the worries of running the Plant."  
  
"There was never any reason to get all of you involved in the problems," Meryl said softly. "You were so busy raising the twins that once they were at the age to be at least semi-self sufficient that you let you childhood slip away from you. It was the only way I could give you at least some of your childhood back."  
  
"You were a child yourself," Lucy refuted. "It was unfair to me, and to the twins once they were older, to not trust that we would be able to handle whatever problem you needed help with. But now , now, we know we have your trust. We know that you believe we can help take care of whatever is thrown our way. And you won't be running yourself into the ground trying to solve the world's problems the way you used to, causing the twins and me to worry for your health."  
  
Meryl was quiet as she absorbed her sister's words. After their mother had died, and their father had thrown himself into the running of the Geo Plant in his grief, she had been determined to take care of and protect her younger siblings at all costs. Lucy had easily taken on the care of the twins, telling her elder sister that it was a little like playing dolls, only these dolls were quite loud whenever they wanted something. Meryl had assumed all the other vital roles their mother had filled, feeling guilty that she couldn't do it all and spare Lucy the pain of having to grow up before her time, but that aspect of their youth had been unavoidable. She had never known, though, that Lucy and the twins had ever been aware that Joseph had taken to confiding in his eldest daughter whenever there were problems, and had come to rely on her steadfastness.  
  
"I never knew," she said softly, giving voice to her swirling thoughts.  
  
"I know," Lucy replied, smiling slightly. "But now you know you can rely on others, and that not all things are done best if done by yourself. I have Milly and Bernadelli to thank for that change." _And perhaps I should thank a certain gunman as well_, Lucy thought with a smile as she pulled her elder sister into a hug, needing the comfort as her tears were no longer a threat but a reality.  
  
Meryl returned her sister's hug, her own tears falling freely as the stress and knowledge that their father was, indeed, dying caught up with her once again. But this time, she wasn't going to be handling the rather monstrous problems alone. No, this time she had her siblings, the entire Geo Plant, Milly, Wolfwood, and last but not least, Vash to help her get through and find a solution, and that thought comforted her as much as a single visit to Val usually did. She was surrounded by friends and family, and she wasn't alone.  
  
Caught up in their shared grief, neither sister saw the lanky shadow detach itself from its place near the doorway to the kitchen. Vash wiped a stray tear from his eye as he made his way back to the room he was sharing with Wolfwood, glad that he had heeded the voice that had cautioned him from entering the kitchen when he had heard voices coming from it. He hated to think that he might have barreled in on a private conversation between Meryl and her sister. Though, to be honest, eavesdropping hadn't been all that much better than simply walking in while they were grieving.  
  
Wolfwood glanced up from unpacking his bag as the gunman entered the room, and the priest's eyes instantly noticed the tears in the blonde's eyes.  
  
"Damnit, Tongari, don't tell me you're STILL crying over that story about the Dogwood tree! You're worse than a woman sometimes!"   
  
Reluctant to tell the black clad priest what he had just over heard, Vash took refuge in a sarcastic white lie. "No thanks to you, I happened to walk into the kitchen while Meryl was chopping up onions for the stewpot, so now I get to sniffle for the rest of the night!"  
  
Wolfwood rolled his eyes as if to say,_ yeah, whatever,_ before he asked, "Have you been able to come up with any money making ideas?"  
  
"No," Vash answered. "I can't really think of anything short of selling some of the healthy trees, and I highly doubt that Meryl will allow for that to happen."  
  
"No kidding. I suppose I could always offer to turn you in," Wolfwood said, grinning as Vash yelled, "That's not funny!"   
  
"I was kidding!" Wolfwood said, then pulled a deck of cards out of his luggage with a wicked grin on his face, "Think we could talk the Big Girl into a game of strip poker?"  
  
"Did you ever tell me what kind of priest you are?" Vash asked with wide eyes as Wolfwood walked through the door of their room and headed for the one Milly was sharing with Meryl.  
  
"One who believes in granting all types of Mercy," Wolfwood replied as he knocked on the closed door. "And relieving boredom until the small girl comes up would definitely be merciful."  
  
Vash rolled his eyes as he began to hunt through his clothing in order to pile on as much of it as he could. If Milly was half as good at poker as she was at chess, then he figured that since it was Wolfwood's idea, then Wolfwood should have to pay the consequences. Vash grinned at that thought as he struggled to get some extra shirts on over his jacket without jarring his arm. Watching Milly take Wolfwood for everything he had in a game of poker was definitely worth the discomfort of wearing another ten layers over his usual clothing. He couldn't wait for the game to begin.  
  
_To be continued . . . sometime . . . _  
  
Terms:   
Tongari - Needle-noggin'   
  
Oneechan - Big sister   
  
Hai - Yes.   
  
Bokushi-san - Mr. Priest   
  
-san - An honorific title like Mr. and Miss I just think it sounds better sometimes.   
  
Niichan/Niisan - Big brother. The reason for the difference is because Randy is slightly older than Ron (which he likes to remind Ron at times) and this is to differentiate between the two.   
  
Senpai - Most people are familar with this term in it's usual school use, where it translates into Upper Classman. In Milly and Meryl's case, her use of "senpai" shows us that Meryl is actually the senior partner of the M & M duo. If I left anything out in the terms, well, lemme know.   
  
**Notes:** GAAAAAAAAAH! It took me over a year to do this chapter, and I STILL think it sucks. Bleh, and I can't do any emoticons, either. Bleh yet again. Sorry it took so long, and a HUGE thanks to everyone who's reviewed. The only thing I can say is . . . Life is evil, and it just got worse and much busier for me. Especially since I'm going to be starting graduate school in the fall, and I'm looking for a new job. Again. I fully intend to continue this story (despite this chapter being harder to pull out than my wisdom teeth were) because, damnit, I know where I'm going with it and I know what I want to write. It's just finding the time to do so. Er, I"ll shut up now. Hope ya'll enjoyed, and again, I'm sorry it's so crappy. I will now make a grumpy face and poof off.  
  



End file.
